OXYGEN PLANT BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO PATIENTS AT KAPSABET COUNTY REFERRAL HOSPITAL
The County government of Nandi has installed a Sh12.7 million oxygen manufacturing plant at the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital.
The plant is set to improve the quality of medical care and save residents’ millions of shillings spent on oxygen.
The Oxygen generating plant is capable of producing 50 cylinders of oxygen every week. The plant will supply the gas to all the hospital’s wards and two theatres and other county hospitals.
Medical oxygen is used to aid breathing in patients with respiratory challenges, especially in theatre, obstetrics, and intensive care units. It is also used to treat ailments like pneumonia.
The oxygen supply unit is set to increase supply of oxygen in Kapsabet County Referral Hospital, which has been buying oxygen from local manufacturers hence greatly reducing the cost incurred.
Given its importance, oxygen was recently added, by the World Health Organisation, to the list of essential medicines that all hospitals must have.
Oxygen is so critical in emergency care, that without it, pregnant women, newborns and children under the age of five, risk death if the gas is not available in hospitals.
“We are excited to tackle the oxygen supply problem and hope to impact many lives through this sustainable model,” said Health and Sanitation CEC Ruth Koech while on a tour of the plant.
Ruth said that the county government has embarked on major refurbishments of health facilities across the county.
She said the construction of Kapsabet Mother and Baby Hospital Complex has commenced.
“We want to ensure that medical tourism to Nairobi and other Counties is minimized because it’s our business as a department to provide adequate medical care,” she said.