MKCG’s wait for oxygen plant lingers
BERHAMPUR: Even as hypoxia is a common and most serious complication of Covid-19 and many patients are being brought to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in critical conditions, the premier health care facility doesn’t have its own oxygen plant.
Three years back, the State Government had decided to set up the oxygen plant on the MKCGMCH premises. A tender was floated for the purpose but no one came forward to take up the project. With no other way out, the Government entrusted the State-owned Odisha Medical Corporation with the job in 2019 and sanctioned `6 crore.
While work on the plant is yet to start, construction of the 28-bed central intensive care unit (ICU) was completed. As per the norms, each ICU bed should be provided oxygen supply through pipelines which will help patients get oxygen whenever they want. However, in the absence of this provision, the ICU beds in MKCGMCH are depending on oxygen cylinders.
Sources said during construction of new buildings on the MCH premises, the internal pipelines for oxygen supply were installed in all structures including the ICU. However, in the absence of security, many of the pipelines and their metal joints have been stolen by thieves now.
“We are managing the situation with oxygen cylinders now. The MCH currently has 400 cylinders of various sizes and the job of refilling them has been given to Godavari gas agency at Haladiapodar, on the outskirts of the city, an official of the MCH informed.
Problems for the MCH, established in the 60s with 512 beds do not end here. The bed capacity has now been increased to 1,200 and new super-speciality departments opened. But the hospital is managing with only 60 pc doctors. All the doctor positions in the neurosurgery department are vacant currently.