diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/README.md b/nw/buildnw/postgres/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9c7a9f13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/README.md
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+# Load NWICU into a PostgreSQL database
+
+This directory contains scripts to create the schema and load the Northwestern ICU and Hospital data (NWICU) into PostgreSQL, following a structure similar to the MIMIC-IV build scripts.
+
+## Quickstart
+
+```sh
+# clone repo
+git clone https://github.com/MIT-LCP/mimic-code.git
+cd mimic-code
+
+# download NWICU data
+wget -r -N -c -np --user <USERNAME> --ask-password https://physionet.org/files/nwicu-northwestern-icu/0.1.0/
+# clean directory (run this command outside of physionet.org directory)
+mv physionet.org/files/nwicu-northwestern-icu nwicu && rmdir physionet.org/files && rm physionet.org/robots.txt && rmdir physionet.org
+
+# create database
+createdb nw
+
+# build and load NWICU tables
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/create.sql
+psql -d nw -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -v nw_data_dir=nwicu/0.1.0 -f nw/buildnw postgres/load_gz.sql
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/constraint.sql
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/index.sql
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/validate.sql
+```
+
+## Detailed guide
+
+First ensure that PostgreSQL is running on your computer. For installation instructions, see: [http://www.postgresql.org/download/](http://www.postgresql.org/download/)
+
+### Install PostgreSQL
+
+**On macOS (using Homebrew):**
+
+```sh
+brew update 
+brew install postgresql
+brew services start postgresql
+```
+
+To check which user is running the PostgreSQL service, use:
+
+```sh
+brew services list
+```
+
+The 'User' column shows the macOS account running PostgreSQL. This is usually the username you should use for database connections unless you have created a different PostgreSQL user.
+
+**On Ubuntu/Debian:**
+
+```sh
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
+sudo service postgresql start
+```
+
+**On Windows:**
+
+1. Download the installer from https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/
+2. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation.
+3. Start the PostgreSQL service from the Start Menu or Services app.
+
+For more details, see the [official PostgreSQL download page](https://www.postgresql.org/download/).
+
+### Download NWICU data
+
+We can download Northwestern ICU (NWICU) database
+from [PhysioNet](https://physionet.org/content/nwicu-northwestern-icu/0.1.0/):
+
+```sh
+wget -r -N -c -np --user <USERNAME> --ask-password https://physionet.org/files/nwicu-northwestern-icu/0.1.0/
+mv physionet.org/files/nwicu-northwestern-icu nwicu && rmdir physionet.org/files && rm physionet.org/robots.txt && rmdir physionet.org
+```
+
+### Specify a database for installation
+
+Create the database if it does not already exist:
+
+```sh
+createdb nw
+```
+
+Set PostgreSQL environment variables:
+
+We can use the provided script to set your environment variables for the current terminal session:
+
+```sh
+source postgres_env.sh
+```
+
+Replace `your_user` and `your_password` with your actual PostgreSQL username and password in sh script.
+
+Instead of editing the script, you can pass your username and password as arguments:
+
+```sh
+source postgres_env.sh myuser mypassword nw localhost 5432
+```
+
+Once Postgres is installed, clone the [mimic-code](https://github.com/MIT-LCP/mimic-code) repository into a local directory. 
+
+``` bash
+git clone https://github.com/MIT-LCP/mimic-code.git
+```
+
+Create the schemas and tables with the following psql command. **This will delete any data present in the schemas.** If you need to reload the data (for example, if you run the load scripts multiple times), simply rerun create.sql.
+This will drop all existing tables and recreate them, ensuring a clean slate before reloading your data.
+
+```sh
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/create.sql
+```
+
+Afterwards, we need to load the NWICU files into the database. To do so, we'll specify the location of the local CSV files (compressed).
+Note that this assumes the folder structure is as follows:
+
+```
+nwicu_data_dir
+	nw_hosp
+		admissions.csv.gz
+		patients.csv.gz
+		...
+	nw_icu
+		icustays.csv.gz
+		...
+```
+
+For example, if you downloaded and moved the files as above, your `nwicu_data_dir` would be `nwicu/0.1.0` and contain subfolders like `nw_hosp` and `nw_icu` with their respective compressed CSV files.
+
+Once you have verified your data is stored in this structure, run:
+
+```sh
+psql -d nw -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -v nw_data_dir=nwicu/0.1.0 -f nw/buildnw/postgres/load_gz.sql
+```
+
+After loading the data, we can enforce data integrity by adding primary keys, foreign keys, and other constraints.
+
+```sh
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/constraint.sql
+```
+
+We can also improve query performance by creating indexes, which allow the database to quickly find and retrieve data, especially in large tables.
+
+```sh
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/index.sql
+```
+
+To ensure the data was loaded correctly, we can run validation checks.
+
+```sh
+psql -d nw -f nw/buildnw/postgres/validate.sql
+```
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/constraint.sql b/nw/buildnw/postgres/constraint.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cefc6631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/constraint.sql
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+---------------------------
+---------------------------
+-- Creating Primary Keys --
+---------------------------
+---------------------------
+
+----------
+-- hosp --
+----------
+
+-- admissions
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.admissions DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS admissions_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.admissions
+ADD CONSTRAINT admissions_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (hadm_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.patients DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS patients_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.patients
+ADD CONSTRAINT patients_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (subject_id);
+
+-- d_icd_diagnoses
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS d_icd_diagnoses_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses
+ADD CONSTRAINT d_icd_diagnoses_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (icd_code, icd_version);
+
+-- diagnoses_icd
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_patients_fk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd
+ADD CONSTRAINT diagnoses_icd_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd
+ADD CONSTRAINT diagnoses_icd_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+-- d_labitems
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.d_labitems DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS d_labitems_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.d_labitems
+ADD CONSTRAINT d_labitems_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (itemid);
+
+-- labevents
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS labevents_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT labevents_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (labevent_id);
+
+-- prescriptions
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS prescriptions_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions
+ADD CONSTRAINT prescriptions_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (pharmacy_id, drug); 
+
+-- emar
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS emar_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar
+ADD CONSTRAINT emar_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (emar_id);
+
+---------
+-- icu --
+---------
+
+-- icustays
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS icustays_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays
+ADD CONSTRAINT icustays_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (stay_id);
+
+-- d_items
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.d_items DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS d_items_pk CASCADE;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.d_items
+ADD CONSTRAINT d_items_pk
+  PRIMARY KEY (itemid, label);
+
+---------------------------
+---------------------------
+-- Creating Foreign Keys --
+---------------------------
+---------------------------
+
+----------
+-- hosp --
+----------
+
+-- admissions
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.admissions DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS admissions_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.admissions
+ADD CONSTRAINT admissions_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+-- diagnoses_icd
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd
+ADD CONSTRAINT diagnoses_icd_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd
+ADD CONSTRAINT diagnoses_icd_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+-- labevents
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS labevents_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT labevents_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS labevents_d_labitems_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.labevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT labevents_d_labitems_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (itemid)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.d_labitems (itemid);
+
+-- prescriptions
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS prescriptions_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions
+ADD CONSTRAINT prescriptions_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS prescriptions_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions
+ADD CONSTRAINT prescriptions_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+-- emar
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS emar_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar
+ADD CONSTRAINT emar_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS emar_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_hosp.emar
+ADD CONSTRAINT emar_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+---------
+-- icu --
+---------
+
+-- icustays
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS icustays_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays
+ADD CONSTRAINT icustays_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS icustays_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.icustays
+ADD CONSTRAINT icustays_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+-- chartevents
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS chartevents_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT chartevents_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS chartevents_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT chartevents_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS chartevents_icustays_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.chartevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT chartevents_icustays_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (stay_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_icu.icustays (stay_id);
+
+  -- procedureevents
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS procedureevents_patients_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT procedureevents_patients_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (subject_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.patients (subject_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS procedureevents_admissions_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT procedureevents_admissions_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (hadm_id)
+  REFERENCES nw_hosp.admissions (hadm_id);
+
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS procedureevents_icustays_fk;
+ALTER TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents
+ADD CONSTRAINT procedureevents_icustays_fk
+  FOREIGN KEY (stay_id)
+  REFERENCES nw.icustays (stay_id);
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/create.sql b/nw/buildnw/postgres/create.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..afed6f74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/create.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+-------------------------------------------
+-- Create the tables and NW schema --
+-------------------------------------------
+
+----------------------
+-- Creating schemas --
+----------------------
+
+DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS nw_hosp CASCADE;
+CREATE SCHEMA nw_hosp;
+DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS nw_icu CASCADE;
+CREATE SCHEMA nw_icu;
+
+---------------------
+-- Creating tables --
+---------------------
+
+-- hosp schema
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.admissions;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.admissions (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    admittime TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
+    dischtime TIMESTAMP,
+    deathtime TIMESTAMP,
+    admission_type VARCHAR(40), 
+    admit_provider_id VARCHAR(10),
+    admission_location VARCHAR(60),
+    discharge_location VARCHAR(255), 
+    insurance VARCHAR(255),
+    language VARCHAR(25),
+    marital_status VARCHAR(30),
+    race VARCHAR(80),
+    edregtime TIMESTAMP,
+    edouttime TIMESTAMP,
+    hospital_expire_flag SMALLINT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.patients;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.patients (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    gender CHAR(1) NOT NULL,
+    anchor_age SMALLINT,
+    anchor_year SMALLINT NOT NULL,
+    anchor_year_group VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
+    dod DATE
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses (
+    icd_code CHAR(7) NOT NULL,
+    icd_version SMALLINT NOT NULL,
+    long_title VARCHAR(255)
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    seq_num INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    icd_code CHAR(7),
+    icd_version SMALLINT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.d_labitems;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.d_labitems (
+    itemid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    label VARCHAR(50),
+    fluid VARCHAR(50),
+    category VARCHAR(50)
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.labevents;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.labevents (
+    labevent_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER,
+    specimen_id INTEGER, 
+    itemid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    order_provider_id VARCHAR(10),
+    charttime TIMESTAMP(0),
+    storetime TIMESTAMP(0),
+    value VARCHAR(200),
+    valuenum DOUBLE PRECISION,
+    valueuom VARCHAR(20),
+    ref_range_lower DOUBLE PRECISION,
+    ref_range_upper DOUBLE PRECISION,
+    flag VARCHAR(10),
+    priority VARCHAR(7),
+    comments TEXT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.prescriptions;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.prescriptions (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    pharmacy_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    poe_id VARCHAR(25),
+    poe_seq INTEGER,
+    order_provider_id VARCHAR(10),
+    starttime TIMESTAMP(3),
+    stoptime TIMESTAMP(3),
+    drug_type VARCHAR(100),
+    drug VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
+    formulary_drug_cd VARCHAR(50),
+    gsn VARCHAR(255),
+    ndc VARCHAR(25),
+    prod_strength VARCHAR(255),
+    form_rx VARCHAR(25),
+    dose_val_rx VARCHAR(100),
+    dose_unit_rx VARCHAR(50),
+    form_val_disp VARCHAR(255), 
+    form_unit_disp VARCHAR(65), 
+    doses_per_24_hrs REAL,
+    route VARCHAR(50)
+
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_hosp.emar;
+CREATE TABLE nw_hosp.emar
+(
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER,
+    emar_id VARCHAR(25) NOT NULL,
+    emar_seq INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    poe_id VARCHAR(25) NOT NULL,
+    pharmacy_id INTEGER,
+    enter_provider_id VARCHAR(10),
+    charttime TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
+    medication TEXT,
+    event_txt VARCHAR(100),
+    scheduletime TIMESTAMP,
+    storetime TIMESTAMP NOT NULL
+);
+
+-- icu schema
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_icu.icustays;
+CREATE TABLE nw_icu.icustays (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    stay_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    first_careunit VARCHAR(255),
+    last_careunit VARCHAR(255),
+    intime TIMESTAMP,
+    outtime TIMESTAMP,
+    los FLOAT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_icu.d_items;
+CREATE TABLE nw_icu.d_items (
+    itemid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    label VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL, 
+    abbreviation VARCHAR(50),
+    linksto VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
+    category VARCHAR(50),
+    unitname VARCHAR(50),
+    param_type VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
+    lownormalvalue FLOAT,
+    highnormalvalue FLOAT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_icu.chartevents;
+CREATE TABLE nw_icu.chartevents (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    stay_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    caregiver_id INTEGER,
+    charttime TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
+    storetime TIMESTAMP,
+    itemid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    value VARCHAR(200),
+    valuenum FLOAT,
+    valueuom VARCHAR(20),
+    warning SMALLINT
+);
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nw_icu.procedureevents;
+CREATE TABLE nw_icu.procedureevents (
+    subject_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    hadm_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    stay_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    caregiver_id INTEGER,
+    starttime TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
+    endtime TIMESTAMP, 
+    storetime TIMESTAMP, 
+    itemid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    value FLOAT,
+    valueuom VARCHAR(20),
+    location VARCHAR(100),
+    locationcategory VARCHAR(50),
+    orderid INTEGER,  
+    linkorderid INTEGER,
+    ordercategoryname VARCHAR(50),
+    ordercategorydescription VARCHAR(30),
+    patientweight FLOAT,
+    isopenbag SMALLINT,
+    continueinnextdept SMALLINT,
+    statusdescription VARCHAR(30),
+    originalamount FLOAT,
+    originalrate FLOAT
+);
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/index.sql b/nw/buildnw/postgres/index.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d75c81df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/index.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+--------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------
+-- Indexes for all NW modules    --
+--------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------
+
+----------
+-- hosp --
+----------
+
+SET search_path TO nw_hosp;
+
+-- admissions
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS admissions_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX admissions_idx01
+	ON admissions (admittime, dischtime, deathtime); 
+
+-- patients
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS patients_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX patients_idx01
+	ON patients (anchor_age);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS patients_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX patients_idx02
+  ON patients (anchor_year);
+
+-- d_icd_diagnoses
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_icd_diagnoses_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX d_icd_diagnoses_idx01
+    ON d_icd_diagnoses (long_title);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_icd_diagnoses_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX d_icd_diagnoses_idx02
+    ON d_icd_diagnoses (icd_code);
+
+-- diagnoses_icd
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX diagnoses_icd_idx01
+  ON diagnoses_icd (icd_code);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS diagnoses_icd_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX diagnoses_icd_idx02
+  ON diagnoses_icd (icd_code, icd_version);
+
+-- d_labitems
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_labitems_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX d_labitems_idx01
+	ON d_labitems (label, fluid, category);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_labitems_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX d_labitems_idx02
+    ON d_labitems (itemid);
+
+-- labevents
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS labevents_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX labevents_idx01
+	ON labevents (charttime, storetime);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS labevents_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX labevents_idx02
+    ON labevents (specimen_id);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS labevents_idx03;
+CREATE INDEX labevents_idx03
+    ON labevents (itemid);
+
+-- prescriptions
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS prescriptions_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX prescriptions_idx01
+	ON prescriptions (starttime, stoptime);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS prescriptions_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX prescriptions_idx02
+    ON prescriptions (ndc);
+
+-- emar
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS emar_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX emar_idx01
+  ON emar (poe_id);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS emar_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX emar_idx02
+  ON emar (pharmacy_id);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS emar_idx03;
+CREATE INDEX emar_idx03
+  ON emar (charttime, scheduletime, storetime);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS emar_idx04;
+CREATE INDEX emar_idx04
+  ON emar (medication);
+
+---------
+-- icu --
+---------
+
+SET search_path TO nw_icu;
+
+-- chartevents
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS chartevents_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX chartevents_idx01
+	ON chartevents (charttime, itemid);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS chartevents_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX chartevents_idx02
+    ON chartevents (itemid);
+
+-- d_items
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_items_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX d_items_idx01
+	ON d_items (label, abbreviation);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_items_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX d_items_idx02
+  ON d_items (category);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS d_items_idx03;
+CREATE INDEX d_items_idx03
+  ON d_items (itemid);
+
+-- icustays
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS icustays_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX icustays_idx01
+  ON icustays (first_careunit, last_careunit);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS icustays_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX icustays_idx02
+  ON icustays (intime, outtime);
+
+-- procedureevents
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS procedureevents_idx01;
+CREATE INDEX procedureevents_idx01
+	ON procedureevents (starttime, itemid);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS procedureevents_idx02;
+CREATE INDEX procedureevents_idx02
+	ON procedureevents (ordercategoryname);
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS procedureevents_idx03;
+CREATE INDEX procedureevents_idx03
+    ON procedureevents (itemid);
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/load_gz.sql b/nw/buildnw/postgres/load_gz.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af30a4c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/load_gz.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+--------------------------------------
+-- Load data into the NW schemas --
+--------------------------------------
+
+-- To run from a terminal:
+--  psql "dbname=<DBNAME> user=<USER>" -v nw_data_dir=<PATH TO DATA DIR> -f load_gz.sql
+\cd :nw_data_dir
+
+-- making sure that all tables are empty and correct encoding is defined -utf8-
+SET CLIENT_ENCODING TO 'utf8';
+
+-- hosp schema
+\cd nw_hosp
+
+\COPY nw_hosp.admissions FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc admissions.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.patients FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc patients.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc d_icd_diagnoses.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.d_labitems FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc d_labitems.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc diagnoses_icd.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.emar FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc emar.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.labevents FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc labevents.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_hosp.prescriptions FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc prescriptions.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+
+-- icu schema
+\cd ../nw_icu
+
+\COPY nw_icu.chartevents FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc chartevents.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_icu.d_items FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc d_items.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_icu.icustays FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc icustays.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
+\COPY nw_icu.procedureevents FROM PROGRAM 'gzip -dc procedureevents.csv.gz' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER NULL '';
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/postgres_env.sh b/nw/buildnw/postgres/postgres_env.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..51e6fc70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/postgres_env.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# postgres_env.sh: Set PostgreSQL environment variables for your session
+# Usage: source postgres_env.sh [user] [password] [database] [host] [port]
+# You can override the defaults by passing arguments as shown above.
+
+export PGUSER="${1:-your_user}"
+export PGPASSWORD="${2:-your_password}"
+export PGDATABASE="${3:-nw}"
+export PGHOST="${4:-localhost}"
+export PGPORT="${5:-5432}"
+
+echo "PostgreSQL environment variables set:"
+echo "  PGUSER=$PGUSER"
+echo "  PGPASSWORD=********"
+echo "  PGDATABASE=$PGDATABASE"
+echo "  PGHOST=$PGHOST"
+echo "  PGPORT=$PGPORT"
diff --git a/nw/buildnw/postgres/validate.sql b/nw/buildnw/postgres/validate.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41ecb537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nw/buildnw/postgres/validate.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+-- Validate the NW built correctly by checking against known row counts
+WITH expected AS (
+    SELECT 'admissions' AS tbl,         61843 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'patients' AS tbl,           25923 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_icd_diagnoses' AS tbl,    73958 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'diagnoses_icd' AS tbl,      371807 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_labitems' AS tbl,         256 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'labevents' AS tbl,          16668451 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'prescriptions' AS tbl,      1852983 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'emar' AS tbl,               19196614 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    -- icu data
+    SELECT 'icustays' AS tbl,           28612 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_items' AS tbl,            344 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'chartevents' AS tbl,        9619759 AS row_count UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'procedureevents' AS tbl,    1017891 AS row_count
+),
+observed AS (
+    SELECT 'admissions' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.admissions UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'patients' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.patients UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_icd_diagnoses' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.d_icd_diagnoses UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'diagnoses_icd' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.diagnoses_icd UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_labitems' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.d_labitems UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'labevents' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.labevents UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'prescriptions' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.prescriptions UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'emar' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_hosp.emar UNION ALL
+    -- icu data
+    SELECT 'icustays' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_icu.icustays UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'd_items' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_icu.d_items UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'chartevents' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_icu.chartevents UNION ALL
+    SELECT 'procedureevents' AS tbl, count(*) AS row_count FROM nw_icu.procedureevents 
+)
+SELECT
+    exp.tbl
+    , exp.row_count AS expected_count
+    , obs.row_count AS observed_count
+    , CASE
+        WHEN exp.row_count = obs.row_count
+        THEN 'PASSED'
+        ELSE 'FAILED'
+    END AS ROW_COUNT_CHECK
+FROM expected exp
+INNER JOIN observed obs
+  ON exp.tbl = obs.tbl
+ORDER BY exp.tbl
+;