Medical oxygen is imperative in the continuing fight against COVID-19 and providing long-term care for a variety of medical cases. Medical oxygen is a key therapy for neonatal care, surgery, and the treatment of a number of respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the gaps in medical oxygen on the African continent as increased caseloads led to widespread oxygen shortages, this scarcity was present long before the pandemic began. As international attention turned to oxygen shortages, the global public health community looked to BHI. BHI has been designing, installing, repairing, and maintaining PSA plants and related medical oxygen infrastructure for over a decade. As a result, BHI was well-equipped to be at the forefront of implementing sustainable infrastructure solutions to treat COVID-19 and strengthen health systems in the long term.

In partnership with the Every Breath Counts Coalition and the Gates Foundation, in July 2021 BHI launched the “Find & Fix” initiative to identify, assess, and repair broken and underfunctioning oxygen production facilities in the countries most vulnerable to COVID-19. Once assessments are completed, BHI’s team of biomedical engineers and specialists identify repairs and when possible, restore plants to functionality. As of August 2022, BHI has completed or is currently undertaking Find & Fix efforts in eleven countries and counting, including Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon, and Liberia.

In February 2022, BHI biomedical engineers from Malawi and Ghana completed assessments and repairs of PSA plants at four major hospitals in Liberia, including Redemption Hospital and JFK Medical Center in Liberia’s capital of Monrovia. The assessments revealed that 40% of the plants were completely non-functional, 40% were in need of significant repairs, and 20% were functioning at full capacity. BHI then worked closely with the Liberian Ministry of Health and NGO partners to carry out necessary repairs and train local technicians to maintain the plants. This “Find & Fix” mission of refurbishing malfunctioning PSA plants instead of installing new ones aims to be an efficient, and sustainable way to increase oxygen capacity in Liberia and beyond.