Kisumu County has put up a new oxygen plant at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) with a capacity to produce 600 liters per minute.
This development will bring to an end the biting shortage and ensure sufficient supply of the essential commodity to hospitals in the region.
JOOTRH Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. George Rae revealed that the machine would start operation in the next few days.
“The installation of the machine has been concluded and right now, final touches are being done before we can have it running,” said Dr. Rae.
The facility will be the highest oxygen generating machine in the region, since its processing capacity is three times the old one which could only produce 230 liters per minute.
Rae noted that the new establishment is a great milestone in the health sector since it would help in handling the great demand for oxygen by the high number of Covid-19 patients in the area.
It will also serve other public and private hospitals in the county and the neighborhood that have been experiencing shortages of oxygen.
“With the revamped production rate, we will be producing more oxygen than we need. Hence, the surplus will be supplied to other health facilities around,” added the CEO. The County spent over Sh50 million to modernize the new oxygen plant.
The County Health Department has set up a comprehensive Covid-19 isolation Center with 100 bed capacity at JOOTRH. The care center will now be fully equipped with ventilators and adequate supply of oxygen.
Additionally, the plant is a backup of an existing liquid oxygen tank at the referral hospital.
JOOTRH, which serves Western Kenya and parts of North Rift, has been renovating the top floor of its major wing and is establishing a comprehensive Cancer and Sickle Cells Treatment centers in line with the modernization of the hospital.
Kisumu County Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o hailed the project saying that “the achievement is a part of the ongoing larger modernization of JOOTRH which includes the building of the Comprehensive Cancer Care Center; the Neurosurgery Research Centre; the Sickle Cell Anemia Research Centre and the Doctors Suites. All are aimed at positioning the facility as a premier teaching and referral center of choice in the region and beyond,”
By Robert Ojwang’
