This level 1 trauma centre would provide helicopter services to ferry patients from far-flung areas of Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Talking to Newsline, GMCH Principal Director Prof Raj Bahadur, who recently attended the meeting of the Union Health Ministry in New Delhi, said, “The ministry has approved the project as was being envisaged by the administration. The centre will come up at the total cost of Rs 244 crore. The centre will also provide ambulances for the city.” The trauma centre will be extension of the GMCH-32.

As per the American College of Surgeries, level one is the hospital with the best facilities, while the medical colleges like GMCH-32 are level four hospitals.

With a whopping amount required for the project, the administration is contemplating using either its own budget, some support from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare or purely on public-private participation (PPP).

“Since Chandigarh falls in the seismic zone, which exposes the area to natural disaster as well as to man-made disaster, support from the National Disaster Management Authority is also expected,” added Prof Raj Bahadur.

The administration had sent a proposal to the Health ministry to have a Trauma Centre in the southern sectors of the city keeping in mind the crowded emergencies of PGI, GMSH-16 and GMCH-32.

In addition to the facilities at the Centre, the administration has also proposed to procure at least 20 ambulances, which will be stationed between two sectors of the city.