The OpenO2 Mobile Workshops
We'll come to you ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Malawi hard and we felt we needed to respond in as proactive a way as we could. With a donation from funds raised by students at http://www.giamicro.com/ we were able to purchase a used minibus and convert it to a mobile workshop. This enabled us to visit hospitals to conduct concentrator repairs in an efficient way, with all the tools and test equipment at our fingertips, in our own controlled environment. We initially estimate that there are more the 350 "dead" concentrators in the country and that if even half of these could be put back into service it can have a significant impact on the COVID pandemic. After having visited multiple hospitals finding many more dead concentrators than we initially anticipated, we now project there are roughly 850 concentrators in need of repair. The average price to repair a concentrator is less than the cost to refill three oxygen cylinders in Malawi, which would last a patient for only 1 day. As the demand for our services soared we started looking for funding for a second mobile workshop that would allow us to work faster. Malawi Children's Initiative came to our rescue with a fundraising campaign that enabled us to get a second minibus, which has also been fitted with workbenches and equipped with tools and spare parts. To supplement internal funding from the Global Health Informatics Institute the Open02-Mobile initiative has received funding from a number of supporting organizations. Check back regularly to keep track of our progress on oxygen concentrator repairs shown below.
December 3rd, 2021 - OpenO2-Mobile has so far repaired 649 oxygen concentrators servicing 58 hospitals, making another 657,860 cubic meters of oxygen available - enough to support 4,607 adult patients or up to 34,553 babies with a continuous flow of oxygen for one week. It would cost about $US7,739,830 to buy this much oxygen in Malawi right now. Our total cost for the repairs is roughly $US96,000.
OpenO2-Mobile Site visits
Kamuzu Central Hospital - 12 units repaired
Lilongwe District Health Office / Bwaila District Hospital - 26 units repaired
Zomba Central Hospital - 13 units repaired
Mzuzu Central Hospital - 15 units repaired
Ekwendeni Mission Hospital - 15 repaired
David Gordon Memorial Hospital - 9 repaired
Kasungu District Hospital - 8 units repaired
St. Andrews Health Center - 6 units repaired
Mchinji District Hospital - 25 units repaired
Ntcheu District Hospital - 10 units repaired
Dedza District Hospital - 6 units repaired
Chiradzulu District Hospital - 11 units repaired
Mulanje District Hospital - 5 units repaired
Thyolo District Hospital - 21 units repaired
Mulanje Mission Hospital - 5 units repaired
Ntchisi District Hospital - 5 units repaired
Dowa District Hospital - 1 unit repaired
Salima district Hospital - 13 units repaired
Rumphi District Hospital - 8 units repaired
Chitipa District Hospital - 8 units repaired
Mzimba District Hospital - 15 units repaired
Karonga District Hospital - 11 units repaired
Nkhotakota District Hospital - 14 units repaired
St. Anne's Mission Hospital - 10 units repaired
Kapiri Mission Hospital - 7 units repaired
Ludzi Community Hospital - 5 units repaired
Nkhata Bay District Hospital - 8 units repaired
Chintheche Rural Hospital - 5 units repaired
Likoma Island District Hospital - 3 units repaired
Mangochi District Hospital - 23 units repaired
Balaka District Hospital - 7 units repaired
Monkey Bay Community Hospital - 7 units repaired
Comfort Community Hospital - 3 units repaired
Chikwawa District Hospital - 15 units repaired
Nsanje District Hospital - 8 units repaired
Mwanza District Hospital - 11 units repaired
Neno District Hospital - 8 units repaired
Madisi Mission Hospital - 4 units repaired
Pirimiti Hospital - 6 units repaired
St Luke's Mission Hospital - 10 units repaired
St. Joseph's Mission Hospital - 9 units repaired
Nkhoma Mission Hospital - 24 units repaired
Nsipe Hospital - 1 unit repaired
Mua Mission Hospital - 11 units repaired
Kabudula Community Hospital - 3 units repaired
Mtengo Wa Nthenga Community Hospital - 7 units repaired
Holy Family Mission Hospital - 7 units repaired
Holy Trinity Mission Hospital - 6 units repaired
Ngabu Community Hospital - 5 units repaired
Malamulo Mission Hospital - 7 units repaired
Mehboob Memorial Health Center - 1 unit repaired
Mulibwanji Health Center - 2 units repaired
Machinga District Hospital - 11 units repaired
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital - 37 units repaired
Daeyang Luke Mission Hospital - 3 units repaired
Likuni Mission Hospital - 9 units repaired
Jenda Health Center - 4 units repaired