Nawanshahr: Guru Nanak Mission Hospital at Dhahan-Kaleran completes 40 years of service

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Nawanshahr, April 17

Delivering affordable healthcare in the region, Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan-Kaleran, completed 40 years of its inception on Wednesday.

Having treated as many as 18 lakh patients in the past four decades, the hospital was inaugurated on April 17, 1984 by then Governor of Punjab, BD Pandey. As the story of its inception goes, the idea was conceived by NRI Baba Budh Singh Dhahan in Canada. He wanted to offer some service by forming a Trust back home in Punjab. For this, the panchayat of Dhahan village donated 23 acres of land and the panchayat of adjoining Kaleran village donated 7 acres of land.

Sandhwan attends meet

• As the 40th anniversary function was held on Wednesday, Speaker of Punjab Assembly Kultar Singh Sandhwan, MLA Banga Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi and ex-chairperson of Punjab School Board of Education Dr Tejinder Kaur Dhaliwal attended the event. Dr Mahil Singh, principal, Khalsa College, Amritsar, highlighted the contributions of Guru Nanak Mission to education in Punjab. Canadian Deputy High Commissioner Stewart Wheeler stated, “It is extremely heartening to know that the hospital was established by the visionary philanthropist Budh S Dhahan.”
• Barjinder S Dhahan (son of Baba Budh Singh), vice-president, thanked all those present. He announced funding commitments of Rs 8 crore ($ 1.33 million Canadian) from Canadian donors for future expansion of hospital and educational services including a medical college. He thanked Mohinder Pal Singh and Simarpreet Kaur and their family for the donation of new ambulance to the hospital.

“Later, trustees, locals, foreign donors and family members started donating money for the construction of a hospital building. In 1979, along with 16 prominent personalities of the area, a resolution was passed and in 1981, Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust was established,” says its president Kulvinder Singh Dhahan.

“On September 27, 1981, the foundation of hospital was laid by a great social worker of the time, Bhagat Puran Singh from Pingalwara. At present, round-the-clock neurological, orthopaedic, gynaecological, dental treatment, physiotherapy and free cataract surgeries are available in the hospital, which got upgraded as a 100-bedded NABH accredited hospital. The hospital has radiology, pathology, pharmacy and blood bank facilities too,” said Kulvinder Singh Dhahan.