Murang'a revives oxygen-producing plant to reduce cost

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Two oxygen-producing plants have been revived and upgraded in Murang’a, saving the health facilities from incurring a bill of Sh141 million for acquiring the commodity from private service providers.  

The plants assembled at the Murang’a Level Five Hospital will save the county government from incurring an annual cost of Sh141 million. 

One of the plants was revived following an audit query in the Senate that sought to explain why the county government continued to buy cylinders from the private companies.

County Health Chief Officer Eliud Maina said the revival and upgrade of the Murang’a oxygen production system will significantly reduce dependence on expensive oxygen cylinders and liquid oxygen supplies.

 Maina explained that the revived oxygen plant will make it easier for Murang’a County to sustainably run oxygen services across all county health facilities without heavy reliance on external oxygen suppliers. 

“This will improve reliability of supply, reduce delays, and lower operational costs as Murang’a Level Five hospital consumes about 70 oxygen cylinders daily, which translates to approximately 1,960 cylinders per month,” he said.

In an interview with the Standard, Maina said a cylinder weighing 8.5M³ costs Sh6,000, while liquid oxygen costs the hospital Sh700,000 per delivery.

In Murang’a, the Level Five facility has two oxygen plants with capacities of 388L/min and 700L/min, he said, adding that the revived oxygen plant can fill 672 cylinders monthly for distribution to other health facilities.

“Annually, the plant has the capacity to refill 8,064 cylinders,” he said, adding that  Murang’a Level Five hospital, following the revival of the plant, will save Sh48.4 million.

Murang’a Town MCA Charles Machigo, while inspecting the ongoing installation of a new oxygen plant storage facility, said it will enhance the hospital’s ability to provide a steady and reliable oxygen supply, improving emergency response and critical healthcare services for our people.

“We remain committed to strengthening healthcare infrastructure and ensuring better medical services for the residents,” said Mr Machigo

Francis Mwangiwangi, a resident, celebrated the presence of the two oxygen plants, saying they will save lives in the health facilities.

“The challenge the relatives of the sick patients have been going through has been eased with the Governor Irungu Kang’ata administration reviving the old plant and establishing a new one,” said Mwangi.

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