PGIMER Completes 63 Years of Excellence Focus on AIBased Healthcare Services
Chandigarh, September 7:- The 63rd Foundation Day ceremony of PGIMER, Chandigarh, was held at the NINE Auditorium. The chief guest of the ceremony, Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Prof. Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, described PGIMER as “a true national heritage” and said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will bring about wide-ranging changes in healthcare services. He said that AI will not be a substitute for doctors, but an effective tool to enhance their capabilities.
Addressing the gathering on the topic “AI in Healthcare”, Prof. Chaturvedi said that AI is no longer merely a technological attraction, but has become an important part of healthcare services, research and decision-making processes. It can help doctors extract essential information from clinical records, pathology reports and scientific literature. Through this, researchers will also be able to examine questions that previously required more time and resources.
Emphasizing the need to develop AI solutions suited to Indian conditions, he said that systems based on data from Western countries cannot fully reflect Indian disease patterns and the realities of patients. India must become a country that develops solutions for itself rather than merely being a consumer of healthcare AI. He also highlighted the potential of AI in remote healthcare services, radiology, hospital management and evidence-based decision-making.
PGIMER Director Prof. Vivek Lal highlighted the institute's growing capacity, patients' trust and affordable healthcare services. He said that the inauguration of the Advanced Mother and Child Centre and Advanced Neuroscience Centre on July 17 increased the institute's capacity by 800 beds. This has increased the total bed capacity from 2,200 to 3,000.
He said that despite the increase in the number of patients, the waiting list is continuously declining. Through Ayushman Bharat and Amrit Pharmacy, patients are benefiting from affordable treatment and generic medicines, resulting in savings of crores of rupees for patients requiring serious and prolonged treatment.
At the ceremony, 35 employees of the institute were honored with certificates of appreciation and mementos for their outstanding services. Director of IMTECH Dr. Alka Rao, former Director Prof. Yogesh Chawla, Dean (Academics) Prof. Sanjay Jain, Dean (Research) Prof. Sanjeev Handa, along with heads of departments, faculty members, resident doctors, nursing officers and other members, were present at the event. At the end, Prof. Sanjeev Handa delivered the vote of thanks.
