The Boreal Healthcare Foundation has received a $100,000 donation from Aaron and Sherry Palidwar to support the expansion of the Malhotra Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert.
The gift honours the care their grandchildren received at the hospital, including one who was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and another who needed urgent life-saving attention after birth.
“Our granddaughter received life-saving care,” said Sherry Palidwar. “Just watching her lifeless body and seeing the team respond so quickly, it was an incredible moment of gratitude. We knew then that if we were going to make a donation, that’s where we wanted it to go.”
At the time, the NICU team operated from the hospital’s lower level. The Palidwars said the experience showed how vital it is to have specialized newborn care close to home rather than sending families south to Saskatoon.
A collage of the Palidwar grandchildren including the granddaughter received life-saving care at the hospital
“Typically what would happen is the staff would do what they could and then wait for the ambulance from Saskatoon,” Sherry said. “Just the fact that the NICU was here in Prince Albert was amazing for us.”
The couple hopes their donation inspires others to support the ‘Equip the Vic’ campaign, a community fundraising effort led by the Boreal Healthcare Foundation to help equip the hospital’s new acute care tower, which includes the expanded NICU.
“The community has supported us over the years and continues to support our businesses,” Sherry said. “It only made sense that we give back as well. It’s extremely important to us that healthcare staff feel supported by their community. We hope this inspires other families to give what they can, big or small; every little bit counts.”
As a former nurse who once worked with the hospital’s maternity program, Sherry said she was especially struck by the compassion and professionalism of the staff who helped her family through a difficult time.
“They were calm, professional, highly trained, knowledgeable people with a passion for what they do,” she said. “You can tell it’s apparent that they love what they do.”
The Malhotra NICU is named in honour of longtime Prince Albert physicians Drs. Tilak and Lalitha Malhotra, who devoted their careers to improving maternal and neonatal care in the region.
The Palidwars’ gift brings the hospital one step closer to expanding its ability to care for newborns locally, keeping more northern families together during some of their most challenging moments.
