Dr. Neela Rasgotra (former married name Gallant) is a fictional character portrayed by Parminder Nagra on the television show ER.

Following the departure of Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, and Mekhi Phifer, Nagra was left as the longest term cast member on ER.

[1][2] Neela Kaur Rasgotra first appeared in late 2003 at the start of the 10th season as a talented but very reticent medical student from Southall, London, of Punjabi Sikh heritage.

She arrives on her first day as the ER is undergoing major renovations and is for the most part unnoticed, except by Dr. Michael Gallant, who guides her through the rough start in the hospital, and Dr. Greg Pratt, who flirts a little bit with her.

A very reserved individual, she faces her first big crisis at County when a helicopter crash occurs on Thanksgiving Day, killing Dr. Robert Romano and pushing her and everyone else there to their limits.

It is also revealed that Neela had a terrible case of claustrophobia, which she later conquers by braving a hyperbaric chamber session that helped save a baby's life from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Later, she finds herself back in the hospital after an obsessive-compulsive intern (Howard, portrayed by Andy Powers) quit and Susan Lewis makes her a job offer, which she accepts.

She becomes close to Dr. Michael Gallant prior to his deployment to Iraq, especially after he took the blame of a patient's accidental death, sparing Neela's probable dismissal.

During the wedding of Abby and Luka, Neela decides to end her romantic relationships with Tony and Ray for good, after built-up emotions escalate and lead to a bar fight between the guys that exposed their personal issues in front of the entire ER staff.

In the 13th season finale, Neela attends an anti-war rally and soon finds herself in danger as a mass panic ensues in the crowd.

After doing an orthopedic surgery rotation where it became obvious all the surgical departments wanted her on their teams for the long haul, she returns to working for Dr. Dubenko.

However, Neela has faced some professional and personal setbacks since that return: a wiz-kid surgical resident decided surgery wasn't for him and left for Pediatrics despite her efforts to convince him he could be a successful surgeon; she noted her sparse personal life on her birthday (which nobody but Tony Gates remembered); and she became close to a patient played by Aida Turturro who developed an infection that led to her death, sending Neela into the doldrums once again.

Abby's departure leaves Neela Rasgotra as the most senior regular character on ER, followed by Archie Morris and Sam Taggart, respectively.

"[3] Ray surprises Neela by showing up to County in a Frankenstein outfit during Halloween and revealed on his one-day return to Chicago that he has endured months of rehab, during which he was fitted with new cutting edge prosthetics and is walking on his own.

His presence clearly has a huge impact on Neela, and she invites him to spend the night with her, but he declines by saying he has finally reached a good place in his life and doesn't want to mess that up.

Neela has had a difficult time dealing with Andrew Wade, a young surgical intern who she feels is too passive to be a successful surgeon.

Later in Season 15 in "Dream Runner" she has a chance to catch with her old colleague Dr. Elizabeth Corday during an attending interview and became involved romantically with Simon Brenner after he returned from Australia.

While at the hospital, she receives a CD in the mail from her old flame, Ray Barnett; it holds a poignant love song by Pete Yorn.

During a trip to Seattle to deliver some donated organs, Neela and Sam briefly meet Carol Hathaway and Dr. Doug Ross, learning that the pair worked at County General in the past.

Neela last appeared as a regular in episode 20 of season 15, "Shifting Equilibrium," in which she leaves County General for good after talking with Simon and Abby (via phone).

There, she and Ray reunite, with Neela looking like she finally felt she made the right decision after struggling with her fear of making the wrong choices in life.

In the series finale "And In the End...," Neela makes a cameo, again appearing on webcam at Frank's admit desk, talking to Brenner, Morris, and Carter about her new life in Baton Rouge.