Mariental hospital oxygen plant awaits repairs

THE Ministry of Health and Social Services revealed that the oxygen generation plant at the Mariental District Hospital is faulty and awaiting repairs.

This comes amid reports from patients who visited the hospital with respiratory problems and were informed that there is nothing the nursing staff could do for them as the hospital had experienced intermittent oxygen problems for the past three to four months.

An oxygen generating plant was set up at the hospital in 2021 during Covid-19 which has a capacity to produce up to 500 litres of oxygen per minute, with purity levels up to 96%.

Health ministry spokesperson Walter Kamaya says the oxygen plant at the hospital was switched off on 30 July this year as it started to present problems and was only used on an on-and-and off basis since June.

Kamaya says during July a quotation for a major service was requested from the supplier Brutes Air Solutions which they submitted. However, processing the documents to the next level could not proceed as some mandatory documents were outstanding.

He says after careful consideration and consultation it was decided to switch off the plant to prevent permanent damage to the the facility hence it was switched off on 30 July 2026.

“Unfortunately, the back and forth with the SLA took a bit of time as the review and signing on both ends needed to be scrutinised properly in addition to waiting for the documents that were initially not available,” says Kamaya.

Hardap regional health director Yvonne Stefanus says the process of getting the service level agreement (SLA) with the company was resumed on 3 August 2026 and was eventually concluded and sent to the company on 25 August.

“Currently the company is waiting for parts on order and will only be able to attend to the oxygen plant during the latter part of the week of 14 September 2026,” she says.

Stefanus says this has led to the hospital being heavily reliant on oxygen cylinders for oxygen supply which has been collected even prior to the plant being switched off.

She says the cylinders were replenished on a needed 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 for the supply of oxygen cylinders, the director says.

“The burn rate may have been an issue but that the directorate is still looking into some discrepancies identified with the distribution or allocation process,” says the director.

She notes that during this period patients who require continuous oxygen during the acute phase of their condition are taken to the isolation ward – a portion prepared as an isolation site or respiratory unit at the TB ward.

Due to the contagious nature of TB, she says the isolation unit is making use of the separate entrance and does not use the same entrance with the TB unit.

“As at the time of this report the unit has six male patients of which three are still on continuous oxygen while three are only provided as the need arises. The TB unit has an oxygen plant with a lesser capacity than the main plant hence it was moved to the TB unit when the district received the new oxygen plant with a bigger capacity that can provide the entire hospital,” says the director.

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