Aaron and Sherry Palidwar have made a $100,000 donation to support the expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Victoria Hospital. Their gift was inspired by the care their grandchildren received. (submitted/Boreal Health Care Foundation)

By Susan McNeil

Donation

Couple makes large donation to NICU that helped their grandchildren

Oct 8, 2025 | 2:02 PM

A Prince Albert couple has made a large donation to the Equip the Vic campaign, targeted at expanding the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Two of Aaron and Sherry Palidwar’s grandchildren were NICU patients; something that left a lasting impression on the couple and inspired them to donate $100,000.

“We were fortunate to experience the skill and compassion of the Victoria Hospital NICU team not once, but twice,” said the Palidwars. “Their calm expertise and unwavering professionalism made all the difference in our grandchildren’s story, and we will be forever grateful.”

Prince Albert’s Malhotra NICU serves not only the city, it is the centre for patients from across the northern part of the province.

In 2022, the unit was redesigned and expanded. From one room that was overcapacity with babies, there are now 11 units that include space for parents to be able to stay nearby.

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The number of staff was increased and the campaign to include more equipment has continued ever since.

Because the Palidwars were grateful for the care their granchildren received, they decided to help make sure future babies got exceptional care as well.

“As the NICU expands to better serve families across our community, it’s important that these frontline caregivers have a state-of-the-art facility that matches the life-saving work they do every day. This gift is our way of saying thank you, and of helping ensure that future families can count on the same exceptional care we received,” they said.

(submitted)

The Equip the Vic campaign, run by the Boreal Health Care Foundation, has a $40 million objective to make sure that when the hospital expansion is complete, it opens fully equipped, including the NICU.

The Malhotra NICU gets its name from doctors Tilak and Lalita Malhotra.

Lalita is a retired general physician who trained as an obstetrician/gynecologist before moving to Canada. She delivered about 13,000 babies across northern Saskatchewan during her 45-year career.

When the campaign to expand the NICU began, the Foundation estimated it would take three years to reach their goal of $2.2 million. It only took six months, in no small part due to an $800,000 donation from the Malhotras.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susan.mcneil.bsky.social