Nagaland government working on supplying oxygen to private hospitals

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 18 (EMN): The department of Health and Family Welfare has expressed the need to ramp up medical oxygen supplies to private hospitals in Kohima and Dimapur districts, as these health facilities have started functioning as designated Covid-19 hospitals.

While District Hospital Dimapur (DHD) has been operating as a designated Covid-19 facility since last year, Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) was declared as a similar facility on Monday in order to cater to the needs of patients afflicted by the virus.

Dr. Neikhrielie Khimiao, Principal Director of Health and Family Welfare, told Eastern Mirror that the department is emphasising on the need to necessitate oxygen facilities at private hospitals in Kohima and Dimapur following an alarming surge in Covid-19 positive cases in both the towns.

‘Private hospitals will now be required to take care of our non-Covid patients. And so, before the facilities run into crisis, as soon as we get oxygen cylinders, we are planning to help them,’ he said.

However, Khimiao maintained that they couldn’t execute the plan immediately as they don’t have sufficient oxygen cylinders at the moment despite making the agreement.

He stated that as consignments of oxygen keep coming, “accordingly we will help them” by providing oxygen cylinders and even oxygen concentrators.

ICICI Bank to provide oxygen concentrators

The director revealed that the ICICI Bank has proposed to provide oxygen concentrators to all the 33 community health centres (CHC) throughout the districts.

However, it was learnt that the bank has not provided any facility to any CHC yet, though they have made a proposal to do so. “Maybe they have come forward with the proposal that they will be giving oxygen concentrators to the 33 CHCs,” Khimiao continued.

Meanwhile, Khimiao informed that they have sent some oxygen cylinders from DHD to Phek district due to some urgent requirement. “We have given some 10 each of D-type cylinders and B-type cylinders,” he said.

It may be mentioned that a 300 LPM oxygen generation plant at NHAK was inaugurated on Monday, while the 200 LPM oxygen plant in Dimapur is awaiting sample test results and installation work is underway at district hospital in Mokokchung.

The government has also announced that similar facilities would be set up in all the remaining district hospitals.