Released on September 8, 2022
Today, Health Minister Paul Merriman, alongside local MLAs, Alana Ross, Prince Albert Northcote and Joe Hargrave, Prince Albert Carlton, officially opened the new Malhotra Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert.
The new NICU will increase capacity to accommodate up to 11 medically fragile babies. In addition to added capacity, the government has provided $4.25 million to support a dedicated and expanded multidisciplinary team that will provide enhanced specialized care to maternal patients and newborns with a lower gestational age.
“Our government recognizes the growing need for a higher level of care for newborns in Prince Albert and northern Saskatchewan,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said. “This new space will allow more fragile newborns to receive specialized closer to home. We thank the Victoria Hospital Foundation and their generous supporters for their significant role in achieving this goal.”
The Victoria Hospital Foundation provided more than $4 million in community funding towards construction and equipment for this unit. The Malhotra NICU is named after Dr. Lalita Malhotra and her late husband Dr. Tilak Raj Malhotra. Since settling in Prince Albert in 1975, Dr. Lalita, has delivered more than 10,000 babies, while her husband served the community as a pediatrician. The Malhotra family contributed significantly to the project, allowing for better care closer to home for families.
“The Malhotra NICU for the North is a testament to what Prince Albert and surrounding communities can accomplish,” Executive Director for the Victoria Hospital Foundation Cody Barnett said. “Thanks to the generosity of the Malhotra family and the nearly 1,000 donors, we are now able to provide the care and facilities families deserve, close to home. Every day 11 families will no longer need to travel to Saskatoon or Regina, away from their communities and support systems, to get the care their newborns need. And each day, 11 babies will have mom by their side, in their room, to have comfort and feeding whenever they need it, all thanks to the incredible gifts made by the donors to the NICU.”
“The new Malhotra NICU will enable our health care teams to provide high-quality care to the smallest and most fragile patients served by Victoria Hospital,” Interim Chief Executive Officer, Saskatchewan Health Authority Andrew Will said. “Expanded capacity and enhanced access to this type of specialized care will enable us to keep more babies in need of critical care closer to their homes and the families that support them. This is a win not just for the people of Prince Albert, but all communities throughout northern Saskatchewan that will benefit from having expanded neonatal intensive care supports closer to home.”
The design is flexible and adaptable for future changes at Victoria Hospital, which include a new multi-story addition, currently in the early stages of procurement.
The unit is set to open for patients on September 20. Prince Albert supports 1,500 births per year and is Saskatchewan’s third largest high-risk maternal site, caring for infants as low as 32 weeks gestation.
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For more information, contact:
Health
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: media@health.gov.sk.ca
Saskatchewan Health Authority
Phone: 1-833-766-4392
Email: media@saskhealthauthority.ca
Victoria Hospital Foundation
Phone: 306-940-6787
Email: cody.barnett@helpthevic.ca