Jinja hospital gets Shs6b plant to curb oxygen shortage in Busoga
A technician at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital refills oxygen cylinders from the newly-commissioned Shs5.5 billion plant that was commissioned on October 8, 2024, and is expected to produce 300 oxygen cylinders every 24 hours. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA
What you need to know:
- The oxygen plant make available the much needed quantities of oxygen for Jinja Hospital that receives referral cases from the 11 districts and multiple health centres in Busoga Sub-region which have suffered shortage of oxygen cylinders.
Regional hospitals and health centres in Busoga Sub-region and Eastern Uganda in general are to benefit from a Shs5.5 billion oxygen plant that was commissioned at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital on October 8.
The facility, which was constructed by the Engineering Brigade of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), was commissioned by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Ms Rebecca Kadaga.
Prior to this milestone, the Ministry of Health had between 2016 and 2020 installed oxygen plants at 13 regional referral hospitals across the country, including Entebbe, Mbale, Soroti and Fort Portal, among others, making Jinja to be the latest beneficiary.
The commissioner in-charge of health infrastructure in the Ministry of Health, Eng George Otim, said the Shs5.5b includes construction and installation of equipment, adding that the plant is “an expensive investment” which requires proper supervision and protection from any form of damage that may occur.
“It can serve the nation and Sub-region for up to ten years, and can produce 300 oxygen cylinders within 24 hours; however, the machines consume a lot of power and will likely take the monthly electricity bill to Shs17m,” Eng Otim said.
“If demand is not high, you can always turn on one engine, but if the demand is high, you can turn on both engines to minimise electricity costs,” Eng Otim suggested.
He added that plans are underway to have the oxygen linked directly to the Wards, operation theaters and ICU beds, rather than having them in cylinders.
The oxygen plant make available the much needed quantities of oxygen for Jinja Hospital that receives referral cases from the 11 districts and multiple health centres in Busoga Sub-region which have suffered shortage of oxygen cylinders.
The Shs5.5 billion oxygen plant at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital that was commissioned on October 8, 2024 to address the shortage of oxygen in Busoga Sub-region. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA
On December 27, 2023, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Kamuli General Hospital ran out of oxygen, which put the lives of premature babies in the incubators at risk.
However, when Daily Monitor and NTV-Uganda, both Nation Media Group-Uganda (NMG-U) subsidiaries, broke the news on January 4, 2024, at least 100 oxygen cylinders were delivered to the hospital by the Ministry of the Health.
In response to the high electricity bills in health facilities, Ms Kadaga said she is going to table the matter before Cabinet to ensure that institutions like hospitals are given lower rates because they render services to the public.
“I also want to thank the UPDF Engineering Brigade for the good visible quality work in a professional way and in record time,” said Ms Kadaga.
Jinja Regional Referral Hospital Director, Dr Alfred Yayi, said the project, which is government-funded, is to provide and improve on service delivery in the health sector in Busoga and the country.
He added: “This Oxygen plant is not only to serve health facilities in Busoga, but beyond boundaries. It has impacted positively in serving other hospitals outside Busoga like Mbale, Lira, Yumbe, and Kayunga, among others.”
