Lira Regional Referral Hospital (LRRH) has emerged as a critical lifeline for Northern Uganda after commissioning an oxygen plant that now produces up to 120 cylinders of medical oxygen daily, serving patients across the Lango, Acholi and Teso sub-regions.
The oxygen plant, commissioned in November 2024 under the Global Fund’s Covid-19 Response Mechanism, operates ?????-the-clock and has double functionality: filling oxygen cylinders while simultaneously supplying oxygen directly to the hospital through a Medical Gas Piping System (MGPS).
Hospital administrators say the facility has fundamentally transformed healthcare delivery in a region long affected by shortages of essential medical supplies.
Lira Regional Referral Hospital Principal Administrator Mr Peter Okello Odeke described the plant as ‘a big and rare medicine which every hospital and every person craves for,’ noting that it has significantly reduced reliance on the National Medical Stores.
He recalled the acute shortages experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when oxygen demand surged beyond national capacity.
‘Oxygen is medicine and it was a very big and rare medicine during the COVID 19 pandemic. During that time getting oxygen was as difficult as it was hence leading to death of many people since the oxygen was supplied by the National Medical Stores and also through the oxyplant with high competition and so costly,’ Mr Odeke said.
He said the new facility stands as a symbol of progress and critical investment, saving lives in Lira while strengthening referral services for surrounding districts.
‘I want to thank the government through the Ministry of Health for having come up with the project of establishing oxygen plants for the Regional Hospitals. It has helped to relieve the people and the facilities of this problem,’ he said.
According to hospital management, the oxygen plant has ensured stable supplies not only within Lira Regional Referral Hospital but also to lower-level health facilities in the wider Lango sub-region, as well as parts of Acholi and Teso.
Mr Odeke said the decision to establish a full oxygen plant in Lira has brought major relief to patients and healthcare workers alike.
‘On a good will the wards have also been piped such that we are now able to get oxygen and medical air in the wards and that has reduced the load on carrying oxygen in cylinders,’ he said.
He explained that the automated system allows oxygen to be stored and released as needed, reducing strain on the plant and ensuring continuous supply.
‘So, the moment we have pumped, the station works such that its able to store oxygen and then release it later,’ he said.
‘When it gets lower, the pump automatically gets on and it’s able to pump oxygen and fill the storage cylinders that then are transported to the wards where the piping has been done. So it relieves the plant from running all the time,’ he added.
To ensure sustainability, local biomedical and technical staff have been trained to manage and maintain the plant, reducing dependence on external technicians and helping guarantee uninterrupted operation.
The hospital is also strengthening its specialist workforce. Two new specialists, including an anesthesiologist, have recently joined the facility, bringing the total number of specialists to 18.
Mr Odeke said two more health workers are currently undergoing training in neonatology and intensive care, with projections that the hospital will surpass 20 specialties within the next two years.
‘It positions the hospital into the fairest, best position to attend to the needs of the people in Lango sub-region,’ he said.
However, challenges remain. Mr Sam Lyut, a member of the hospital’s board, expressed concern over inadequate infrastructure, particularly in the maternity ward.
He said the ward has been expanded into a tent due to space constraints, describing the situation as unacceptable.
‘Newborns should not be sleeping in tents,’ he said.
Mr Lyut said the board is working to secure funding for a permanent ward complex and urged religious leaders to pray for the project’s realization.