Private hospitals in Salem on Saturday said that medical oxygen supply to the district was manageable and appealed to the district administration to ensure adequate oxygen supply regularly.
Besides supply of oxygen from other districts, medical oxygen is also manufactured and supplied from the plant of JSW industries here. According to official sources, up to 17 tonne of oxygen is produced at the plant on a day and it is distributed to hospitals in Salem and neighbouring districts based on the instructions from the Central Command Centre in Chennai.
Office-bearers from Indian Medical Association, Salem branch, said though there were certain shortages in supply on Friday, the district administration provided required supply of medical oxygen to hospitals. Doctors said the situation was manageable. Private hospitals required 20 tonne on an average and there were no issues with oxygen supply on Saturday, they added.
Authorities at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital said they required 10-12kl of oxygen and it was being regularly supplied from a plant in Perundurai. As on Saturday there was sufficient supply.
On condition of anonymity, a medical professional here said several private hospitals had to turn away patients from Thursday night due to lack of assurance from officials regarding oxygen supply and following petitions from IMA on Friday, the situation improved as private hospitals received supplies later on Friday.
