Mariental District Hospital patients face severe delays as oxygen plant repairs drag on, forcing the health ministry to appoint a new contractor to solve the ongoing crisis.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services last week said the oxygen-generation plant was switched off at the end of July due to consistent problems.
The company that was expected to commence repairs was waiting for parts, the ministry said.
Health minister Esperance Luvindao on Thursday said a new company was appointed to address the underlying problems rather than continuing with temporary maintenance.
She said this while responding to lawmaker Lilani Brinkman in the parliament.
“The oxygen plant experienced an explosion on 6 June, after which the supplier was called to address the problem. However, repeated maintenance requirements led to the ministry seeking a longer-term solution after the plant continued experiencing operational problems.
“Therefore a new company was appointed to address the underlying problems with the oxygen plant rather than continue with temporary maintenance repairs. These repairs are currently ongoing,” Luvindao said.
The state of the oxygen generation plant came to light when patients who visited the hospital with respiratory problems were informed the nursing staff could do nothing for them as the hospital had no oxygen intermittently for the past three to four months.
Patients say some of them were referred to the district hospital from Gibeon clinic, which did not have oxygen or high-blood pressure medicine either.
“Imagine travelling 60km with chest pains and difficulty breathing, only to arrive at the hospital and to be told there is nothing they can do to help me because the hospital does not have oxygen, and that it has been so for the past three to four months,” Fransina Kaoseb says.
She says her family eventually took her to a private pharmacy to be nebulised for 15 minutes. This cost about N$280, she says.
Luvindao told the parliament this has made the hospital become heavily reliant on oxygen cylinders as an interim measure to ensure continuity of supply while the main plant was being repaired.
“The cylinders were replenished on a need basis to ensure smooth collection and replenishment of the oxygen cylinders and to prevent the hospital running out. So far they have paid up to N$135 751.06, Hardap regional health director Yvonne Stefanus says,” she said.
Patients requiring continuous oxygen are currently admitted to the isolation ward, where part of the respiratory unit is served by a smaller-capacity oxygen plant, the minister said.
Mariental District Hospital received an oxygen-generating plant in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a capacity to produce up to 500 litres of oxygen per minute, with purity levels up to 96%.
