CHANDIGARH, Aug 9 — After missing multiple deadlines, the 283-bed emergency-cum-trauma centre at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, began operations on Saturday, becoming the second such facility in the city after the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
Built at a cost of ₹52.77 crore, the new block is aimed at providing advanced critical care to patients requiring immediate treatment.
Inaugurating the centre, Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria called it “a need of the hour” given the surge in patients at GMCH’s emergency. “The government had given the required budget to the project on priority. The trauma centre will ease the load on PGIMER as well,” Kataria said.
The old GMCH-32 emergency block had only 45 beds but handled 350–400 patients daily. Approved in 2019, the new facility has two basements and three upper floors, housing a state-of-the-art triage area, modular operation theatres, intensive care units, and dedicated surgical and medical wards.
Advanced diagnostic support — including X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, and comprehensive blood investigation services — is also available. Patients will first be stabilised in the triage unit on the ground floor before being moved to specialty wards.
“In disaster situations, the triage system will colour-code patients red, green, or yellow depending on severity. This will ensure optimal use of manpower and priority for the critically injured,” a GMCH official said.
The first floor hosts modular OTs and ICUs for medicine, paediatrics, orthopaedics, and general surgery, alongside anaesthesia facilities. Officials noted that the previous emergency lacked any stabilisation area for initial severity assessment.
Designed to reduce delays, disabilities, and mortality in critical and trauma cases, the new infrastructure is part of the UT administration’s wider healthcare plan. Kataria said all city dispensaries would be fully equipped within two months so patients would not need to rush to hospitals for minor ailments.
