Most Covid-era O2 plants battle for life in Punjab hospitals
The fragility of the system came into focus after the recent deaths of three critically ill patients at Jalandhar Civil Hospital's trauma ward, reportedly due to a fault in the oxygen supply system. Following the incident, the Punjab Health Systems Corporation directed all deputy medical commissioners to submit updated reports on the operational status of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and liquid medical oxygen (LMO) plants.
According to the data, about 35 oxygen plants are currently non-functional. These include major district hospitals in Jalandhar, Fazilka, Sangrur, Faridkot, Mohali and Kapurthala, as well as sub-divisional and community health centres in Patiala, Amritsar, Ropar, Bathinda and Ferozepur.
In Jalandhar, both the 1,000 LPM PSA plant and 10 KL LMO plant are not working. In Patiala, the PSA plants at SDH Rajpura (160 LPM) and SHD Samana are non-functional.
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In Amritsar, SDH Ajnala's 250 LPM PSA unit is not working, while the district hospital's LMO plant is also non-functional, though the 960 LPM PSA plant is operational.
PSA plants at Fazilka DH, SDH Abohar and CHC Jalalabad are also not working. In Sangrur, DH Sangrur, SDH Moonak, and CHC Bhawanigarh report PSA not in working condition. Faridkot DH's 1,000 LPM and Kotkapura SDH's 960 LPM PSA plants are also listed as non-functional.
All three PSA units in Kapurthala district — at DH Kapurthala, SDH Phagwara, and SDH Sultanpur—are defunct. In Mohali, three PSA plants at the district hospital (950 LPM, 600 LPM, and 1,000 LPM) are non-operational, with only the LMO plant functional.
In Ropar, the 500 LPM PSA plant at the district hospital is not working, while the 6,000 KL LMO plant is functional. In Bathinda, the PSA plant at Talwandi Sabo SDH is under repair.
The report also flags the absence of trained technicians, outdated or missing SOPs, and lack of preventive maintenance. Several plants lack operational logbooks and face issues with backup power systems.
A senior health department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a majority of PSA plants became non-operational after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, primarily due to low usage, lack of trained personnel, and high maintenance demands.
These plants, which were rapidly installed using central govt funds during the pandemic's peak, were meant to provide decentralised oxygen supply across district and sub-district hospitals.
However, the official explained that PSA plants are cost-effective only when operated at or near full capacity, which requires a consistently high demand for medical oxygen—a situation that rarely exists in smaller hospitals.
"Most of these facilities don't have intensive care units (ICUs) or high patient loads requiring continuous oxygen support. As a result, the plants often remained idle, leading to mechanical deterioration," the official said.
In most of the locations, oxygen supply has since reverted to traditional methods like cylinders and concentrators, which are easier to manage but less efficient for emergency-scale demands.
Despite repeated attempts, health minister Dr Balbir Singh was not available for comments.
White elephants
The health minister has repeatedly referred to PSA oxygen plants as "white elephants," citing high maintenance costs and low utilisation as key concerns.
During his visit to the district hospital in Jalandhar on Friday, the minister reiterated his stance, again calling the PSA plants "white elephants" due to the significant expenditure involved in their upkeep and operation.
He said he would be visiting health facilities across the state to assess the condition of oxygen infrastructure and assured that a multi-layered oxygen supply system would be put in place to ensure uninterrupted service.
Earlier, during the two-day assembly session in Feb, while responding to a query by leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa regarding the non-functional oxygen plant in Dhariwal, the health minister said the facility was one of 41 such 'white elephants' installed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bajwa called the minister's remarks "most unfortunate."
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