Hewatele

Focused on Saving Lives

Hewatele Hewatele, a social enterprise established in Kenya in 2014 by the Center for Public Health and Development (CPHD), aims to address the challenges surrounding the availability, affordability, and accessibility of safe medical oxygen in Kenya and other Eastern African countries. The organization was founded to complement CPHD’s efforts in maternal, child, and newborn health, where limitations in the medical oxygen supply chain have often hindered critical life-saving procedures such as anesthesia, safe surgery, management of childhood illnesses, and comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care.

Hewatele’s first Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plant in Siaya County was established as a public-private partnership (PPP) with the county government of Siaya, supported by grant funding from the General Electric Foundation. Subsequent plants were developed in Nakuru at Nakuru Level 6 Hospital and Nairobi at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital with concessionary loan funding from Grand Challenges Canada and additional contributions from UNICEF for the Nairobi facility.

In collaboration with African Mission Healthcare, Hewatele established PSA plant at Maua Methodist Hospital. Additionally, the organization expanded its operations with another facility in Kisumu County. To further meet the growing demand for medical oxygen, Hewatele set up a depot in Bungoma. Additionally, Hewatele is undertaking maintenance of eight PSA plants in Somalia—one of Africa’s most fragile regions—through a partnership with the World Health Organization and one Plant in Uganda-Joint Medical Services.

Hewatele is presently engaged in a project to install a 20-ton-per-day medical Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Nitrogen Air Separation Unit (ASU) at Tatu City Special Economic Zone. Furthermore, the organization is establishing and operating four regional Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and cylinder-refilling sites across Kenya, along with a fifth depot in Uganda. As part of its hub-and-spoke distribution model, Hewatele is also installing Liquid Oxygen (LOX) cryogenic tanks at hospitals to ensure efficient and reliable oxygen supply.