The installation of two ultra-modern oxygen plants at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is expected to save cost and improve healthcare delivery at the facility.
The hospital has for the past years depended on external suppliers and private sources for oxygen.
The development had resulted in a huge financial burden on the facility as it spends an average of Ghc12, 000 daily for a minimum of 200 bottled oxygen.
The absence of an oxygen plant previously at the facility was a nightmare not only for management but also for patients.
The hospital which serves as a referral facility for other health facilities even outside the Ashanti Region depends highly on constant oxygen supply to critical areas like the Theatres and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
The absence of such plants had also affected the quality of emergency care services at the hospital-a situation which has always led to frustrations of emergency care staff and management.
The hospital’s board and management after considering these burdens awarded a contract to Rikair Company Limited.
The total cost of the project which includes all the installations done is Ghc 5,953,000.00 and will be repaid in equal monthly instalment over a period of three years.
The repayment will be funded by the hospital’s Internally Generated Funds (IGF).
The plants can supply all the oxygen consumption needs of critical patients at the hospital at a pressure range of 4.5bar to 5bar, a pressure level required for optimum patient care.
The two plants have a combined production capacity of 2,496 cubic meters of oxygen a day as against the hospital’s current total oxygen consumption of 1,875 meters per day.
The production capacity is about six times of the old plants that have been decommissioned and also over 600 cubic meters in excess daily of the hospital’s requirement.
Management has indicated that the excess capacity will not go waste as the new plants have bottling capabilities which can supply oxygen to other needy health facilities at an affordable cost.
The contract also involves planned preventive maintenance by the Rikair Company for the warranty period.
As part of the contract, two engineers from the hospital have received training on the plants at the manufacturing company in the United States of America (USA).
“All these measures were taken by management to ensure that the plants are diligently maintained without hitches during its expected years of operation”, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital said at a ceremony to commission the plants.
Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso indicated that the growth and expansion the hospital has undergone over the past few years factored in the decision on the nature of the oxygen Plants to procure.
He further said the hospital’s oxygen consumption needs had increased from about 480 cubic meters a day to 1,875 cubic meters following the construction of additional facilities at the hospital.
Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Akosua Frema Osei Opare urged other health facilities to emulate the KATH in using their internal funds to expand projects rather than solely depending on the Government for funding.
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