Low On Oxygen, Juan Luis Hospital Partners With Dept. Of Health, Private Firms To Avert ‘Potential Crisis’

ST. CROIX — The Juan F. Luis Hospital said on Friday that it had partnered with the Department of Health along with several private firms to serve as backups if the hospital runs out of oxygen. 

The hospital said it was monitoring its daily supply closely, after its main vendor, Carib Supply, informed the hospital that it was low on stock and won’t be fully replenished until Monday.

Oxygen is widely used in hospitals for the treatment of a number of acute and chronic health conditions. It is also stored in ambulances to manage emergency situations.

According to the hospital, to avert a potential crisis, its staff reached out to several community partners including Continuum Care and Limetree Bay Terminals, and quickly secured an alternate source of oxygen. More specifically, JFL was able to obtain additional tanks from The Medicine Shoppe on St. Thomas and from the Schneider Regional Medical Center, the release said. These tanks were transported by AeroMD. In addition, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) was also consulted and assisted in ensuring a positive outcome, J.F.L. said.

“During this time, there has been no reduction in the quality of our care provided to our patients and we continue to ensure that the highest standard of quality care is provided to our patient,” said J.F.L. Acting Chief Operating Officer Dyma Williams.

The Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is also supplied by Carib Supply, but EMS was unaffected by the vendor’s shortage, JFL said.

“At this time, EMS has a reservoir of oxygen that acts as a backup for their daily emergency response operations. As the leading emergency responding division within the Department of Health, EMS is able to self‐sustain by storing supplemental oxygen for use during critical periods. This is made possible with the support of the Public Health Preparedness division led by Director Francine Lang,” said EMS Acting Territorial Coordinator Jacqueline Greenidge Payne.

Ms. Dyma expressed plans to establish redundancy systems that could potentially supply the territory, according to the release. JFL said D.O.H. was optimistic and fully supported the territory’s hospitals in plans to increase capacity.