By Eastern Newspaper Correspondent,
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has said other counties can benefit from sn oxygen plant at Chuka County Referral Hospital.
Governor Njuki said his administration is ready to share the much-needed oxygen with neighboring counties that found themselves with shortages.
Speaking to the media Njuki said the oxygen plant has been active since January last year and it has aided in the fight against Covid-19 for patients who needed to be put under oxygen.
“I want to take tell our people in Tharaka Nithi that the oxygen we have been purchasing in Nairobi and other private companies cannot match the quality of oxygen we are producing locally since last year January. My government has been producing its oxygen and this has aided in fighting Covid-19 because patients get the oxygen every time they need it”, said Njuki.
The oxygen has been made available to all health centers and Njuki assured residents who may need oxygen to first check with local hospitals before taking patients outside the county.
“I appreciate the vision by the health department led by Dr. Thuraku Riara because now we can help all hospitals to access oxygen easily. “We want patients in public and private hospitals to benefit, he said.
The governor further called upon the neighboring counties to take advantage of the commodity and ease the struggle for scarce oxygen.
“They can contact us so that we share the resource to help all the people. We are asking that when we give out this oxygen it should not be accessible to unscrupulous dealers but should be given to the deserving patients”, Njuki added.
The devolved unit embarked on plans to establish its oxygen plant due to unreliable supplies from private suppliers as it worked to improve services. The Sh25 million factory has the capacity to generate enough oxygen for use within the county and distribution to other counties.
However, according to the governor, the storage of enough oxygen is hampered by a lack of oxygen cylinders. He implored development partners, the central government, and donors to help in the acquisition of more cylinders as well as to increase the capacity of production of oxygen at the facility to serve more people.
He further cautioned some counties that have been alleged to turn away patients from other counties saying it should not matter where a patient comes from when it comes to matters health.
“There are some Level Five Hospitals that are turning away patients from other counties yet they are funded by taxpayers’ money. It does not matter what capacity you have to handle patients because every patient has to be treated where they need these services”, he said.
He asked governors across the country to monitor and ensure such cases are not taking place within their jurisdictions.
