HYDERABAD: Following a Central government directive, the Telangana government has instructed all the private hospitals in the State to set up oxygen plants on their premises to combat a future crisis and shortage of Liquid Medical Oxygen.
The Director of Public Health (DPH) issued an order to this effect on Friday, which stated that every hospital, irrespective of whether they were treating Covid patients or not, had to set up a Pressure Swing Adsorption Plant (PSA) on their premises by August 31.
The PSA machines can be of varying capacity. Hospitals with up to 200 beds have a daily oxygen need of 500 LPM (Liters Per Minute), those with 200-500 beds require 1,000 LPM and those with more than 500 beds need 2,000 LPM.
The government has also issued a list of authorised agencies that can install the plant. The order stated that any failure in compliance would result in complete cancellation of recognition of the hospitals.The move comes at a time when the State’s active cases have plateaued and stopped declining further from the 9,000-mark — a cause of concern for the officials. The Gandhi Hospital, which is the State’s nodal Covid-19 treatment centre, has also seen a steady number of serious cases with around 400 beds occupied.