State to get 38 PSA plants, nodal officer and two technical personnel to be trained for each plant
Ranchi/Jamshedpur, June 22: Three health centres in East Singhbhum including two in Jamshedpur will see pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plants under PM-Cares fund in a bid to ensure sufficient supply of liquid medical oxygen to health centres for patients suffering breathing distress due to Covid or other diseases.
The three health centres in Jamshedpur are among the 38 health centres identified by the Union health ministry for installation of the PSA oxygen plants across the 24 districts of Jharkhand.
The facility which will see installation of the PSA oxygen plants in Jamshedpur include 500-bed MGM Medical College and Hospital (construction already started) in Sakchi, 200-bed Sadar Hospital in Khasmahal (Parsudih) and 50-bed Ghatshila sub-divisional hospital at Ghatshila.
The PSA plants at MGM Medical College and Hospital will have a capacity of 600 litres per minute (LPM) while the one at Sadar Hospital will have a capacity of 1000 LPM. The Ghatshila sub-divisional hospital will have a capacity of 250 LPM.
The letter by the secretary health ministry has directed the Jharkhand government to appoint at least two technical persons for each PSA plant and one nodal officer for the each of the hospitals benefitting from them in a bid to avert technical glitches, which earlier marred the Centre’s efforts of providing free ventilators to states under the PM-Cares fund. Several states, including Jharkhand, had complained about defunct ventilators and lack of assistance from the Centre in troubleshooting during the second wave of Covid-19 earlier this year.
“Each of the 24 districts will get at least one PSA plant under the PM-Cares fund in Jharkhand. We have received the final list from the Centre and the work for setting up the plants will begin soon,” said state health department nodal officer (IEC) Siddharth Tripathi.
The Centre, under its PM-Cares fund initiative, will be providing 1,215 PSA oxygen plants to states and Union territories across India and Jharkhand has been assured 38 plants under this scheme. As per details shared by the health department, at least three PSA plants each will be set up in Ranchi, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Bokaro. Two each will come up in Dhanbad, Deoghar, Dumka, Giridih, Latehar and Hazaribagh, while one PSA plant will be set up in each of the remaining 14 districts in the state.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will ensure the site preparation and installation of at least 29 of the 38 PSA plants, while the Central Medical Services Society (CMSS) and HLL Infra Services Limited (HITES) will work for the site preparation and installation of four and five PSA plants respectively.
Nodal officers and technical staff appointed for the PSA plants will undergo special training conducted by the Centre and work as point persons for the PSA monitoring system of the Centre, officials said. The plants will only start functioning after a clearance from nodal officers and technical persons appointed for the task, officials said, adding that this practice would help in troubleshooting. The PSA monitoring team of the Centre will directly be in touch with the point persons for the different PSA plants.
