An Oxygen plant with 500 LPM capacity, set up at the Cardiothoracic & Neuroscience Centre, GMCH Guwahati. It was dedicated to the people of Assam by the state’s Health and Family Welfare Minister, Keshab Mahanta.

Bayer has set up the oxygen plant at the CN Centre of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), in partnership with LabourNet as part of its CSR initiative. Bayer is dedicated to enhancing healthcare facilities in rural and underserved areas of the country, and as part of this commitment, it has scaled the plant to support CN Center GMCH, the largest tertiary care hospital with 2500 beds, catering to a population of over ten lakh people in Guwahati, as well as patients from neighboring districts. The plant will provide an adequate oxygen supply to meet the hospital’s demand, enabling it to provide high-quality healthcare services to the community.

The PSA Oxygen Plant has been designed to cater to the high demand for medical-grade oxygen at the hospital. With the capacity to generate, supply, and store 93-95% pure medical oxygen, the plant will provide oxygen supply to Oxygenated beds, CCU, ICU & OTs. The plant is primarily intended to support the 300-bed unit at the Cardiology and Neuroscience Center in GMCH. The plant when operated for 8 hours a day, can produce 2,02,500 litres of oxygen in a year, equivalent to 1800 oxygen cylinders.

The installation of the dedicated oxygen plant at GMCH is set to provide a consistent and reliable supply of oxygen, which is crucial for saving the lives of critically ill patients at the hospital. As a regional center for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, GMCH has been catering to patients not just from Guwahati but also from other parts of the state. With the increased demand for medical care during the pandemic, the installation of the plant is a precautionary measure to ensure that patients requiring critical care have access to adequate oxygen support.

“The state government under the able leadership of the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, is taking every possible measure to strengthen the health care infrastructure in the State. The government’s aim is to provide affordable healthcare to every citizen of Assam and is equipping state-run hospitals with modern critical equipment like oxygen plants to meet any future eventuality. I am happy that the health department’s efforts are being supported by corporates like Bayer through their CSE activities and I hope that more corporates will shift their focus to the North-Eastern part of the country.”, said Keshab Mahanta.

Rachana Panda, Vice-President, and Country Head- Communications, Public Affairs, Sustainability & CSE, Bayer South Asia said, “Bayer has a long-standing reputation as a healthcare pioneer and is collaborating closely with multiple partners to enhance the public health infrastructure of the country. As part of this endeavour, we are delighted to support the Assam government’s efforts to establish essential health infrastructure such as oxygen plants in public hospitals. The oxygen plant will also contribute to achieving the government’s objective of providing cost-effective and high-quality healthcare in rural and underserved areas.”

Apart from GMCH in Assam, Bayer has also set up oxygen plants in the Sambalpur district of Odisha, Raichur district of Karnataka, and Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh.