2 Chandigarh private hospitals to install oxygen plants

Two private hospitals of Chandigarh are ready to install pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants in preparation for a possible third Covid wave.

Meanwhile three other private facilities are also expected to follow suit, the UT administration said on Wednesday.

PSA is a process to generate enriched oxygen gas from ambient air.

The central government had requested those private hospitals or clinical establishments with a capacity of more than 50 beds to install an oxygen plant. The move came after several states and UTs had complained of oxygen shortage in government and private hospitals during the peak of the second Covid wave.

In regard to this, UT health secretary Yashpal Garg on Wednesday convened a meeting with private hospitals to review their response.

“Eden Hospital has already placed an order for installation of a PSA oxygen plant, which is expected to be made functional by the end of October this year. Also, Shri Dhanwantry Hospital is in the advanced stages of finalising purchase of 250 LPM plant,” Garg said, adding that Land Mark Hospital, Healing Hospital and Mukat Hospital are in advanced stages of negotiation with the manufacturer or supplier of the plant and the authorities will submit the final plan by October 31.

Meanwhile, Chaitanya Hospital and Santokh Hospital are installing liquid oxygen tankers and have procured some oxygen concentrators, to be used in the case of emergency. Chandigarh’s Cloud Nine Hospital and Chandigarh City Hospital, too, have procured oxygen concentrators.

So far, four oxygen generation plants are installed at Chandigarh’s four government health institutes with a cumulative capacity to generate 3,600 litres of medical oxygen per minute (LPM). Besides, four more oxygen plants are being set up at various government hospitals in UT, with the help of donations from non-governmental organisations. Once operational, 2,000 LPM oxygen will be added to the UT’s in-house generation capacity.

During the second wave, the demand for oxygen had suddenly peaked with the increase in patient load, and the UT administration had to request the Centre to raise its oxygen quota from 20MT to 35MT. The UT health department had wisely distributed the 20MT oxygen among government and private hospitals during the second wave. Hindustan Times