A radiologist friend of mine called last month. His hospital had just spent 12 lakhs on an MGPS installation. Three weeks after handover, the oxygen pressure in the ICU dropped to dangerous levels. For 45 minutes, backup cylinders kept patients alive while the biomedical team scrambled.
The contractor was unreachable. The guarantee? Voided because of “improper maintenance.” The hospital lost three days of ICU bookings. One patient had to be shifted to another facility.
This isn’t a rare story. Talk to any hospital administrator, and they’ll tell you their MGPS nightmare. Bad design. Wrong materials. Poor installation. No testing before go-live. Vendor who disappears after payment.
The problem isn’t that medical gas pipeline systems don’t work. They do. But most hospital projects fail because no one understands what actually matters before buying.
This article walks you through exactly what you need to know whether you’re a hospital owner planning an upgrade, a doctor concerned about OR safety, a biomedical engineer managing installation, or a contractor bidding on the work.
WHAT IS AN MGPS AND WHY IT MATTERS (REALLY).
Let me start simple.
An MGPS is just pipes. Copper pipes that carry oxygen, medical air, vacuum, and other gases from a central source directly to every operating theater, ICU bed, ward, and emergency area in your hospital.
Why does this matter?
Because without it, you’re managing individual cylinders. That means:
- Cylinder storage headaches, oxygen bottles take up real estate.
- Staff manually moving heavy cylinders around all day.
- Risk of empty cylinders when you need them.
- Infection control issues with cylinders in patient areas.
- Compliance problems during NABH audits.
With MGPS, you connect a wall outlet. Gas comes out. Simple
But here’s the thing: this simplicity only works if the system is designed and installed correctly. If it’s not, you get the story I mentioned above. Or worse.
WHY HOSPITAL MGPS PROJECTS ACTUALLY FAIL.
Let me give you the real reasons, because no contractor will tell you this.
Failure Number One: Buying Based on Price, Not Capability.
A biomedical engineer gets three quotes for an MGPS. One contractor quotes 8 lakhs. Another one comes in at 12. The third guy says 15.
The hospital picks the cheapest. Of course they do.
What they don’t know: the cheap contractor is using industrial-grade copper pipes, not medical-grade. Industrial copper has impurities. It corrodes faster. The gas quality goes down. If you’ve got someone on a ventilator who depends on clean, pure oxygen, contaminated air can literally stop their body from getting what it needs.
NABH inspectors will catch this. But by then, you’ve already paid and installed it.
The mid-range contractor might be using the right materials but cutting corners on pressure regulation. The expensive one actually tested their system before delivery.
You’re not paying for materials. You’re paying for the contractor to NOT kill your patients.
Failure Number Two: Skipping Proper Design Phase.
Most hospitals don’t actually design their MGPS. They just tell a contractor to install oxygen and medical air everywhere and expect it to work.
Proper design requires:
- Pressure calculations for each zone – ICU needs different pressure than a ward.
- Backup source planning – What happens if the main oxygen tank fails?
- Alarm system placement – Biomedical staff needs to see alerts instantly.
- Future expansion planning – Adding 50 new beds in 2 years. Can your system scale?
- Building layout integration – Running pipes through occupied areas without disruption.
Without this, you end up with:
- Dead zones where gas pressure is too low.
- Alarms that go off randomly because the design was poor.
- Inability to add new outlets later.
- Single point of failure with no backup.
Failure Number Three: Using the Wrong Source Equipment.
Your hospital needs a medical air compressor. The contractor finds one online that’s cheaper and good enough.
It’s an industrial compressor. Maybe it works for 2 months. Then moisture and oil start settling inside the pipes. Suddenly your ICU ward calls saying ventilator patients are showing low oxygen saturation even though the system shows pressure is normal. You send samples to the lab. Results come back. Oil contamination in the medical air line.
Flushing the whole pipeline becomes your only option. You’re looking at 2-3 lakhs minimum. And your hospital’s closed for repairs for weeks while this happens.
Medical-grade compressors cost more upfront. But they don’t kill patients and they don’t cost you 3 times more in emergency repairs.
Failure Number Four: No Testing Before Handover.
The contractor installs pipes. Connects equipment. Says it’s done. You pay them. They leave.
First patient on oxygen? The system fails. Why? Because nobody actually ran the system before handing it over.
What should happen before handover:
- You fill the system with gas and watch if pressure stays constant for a full day. If it drops even 1 psi, there’s a leak somewhere.
- You take gas samples from different outlets and send them to a lab. They check for water, oil, particles, anything that shouldn’t be there.
- You trigger every alarm button and watch if the right people get notified.
- You open all the outlets at once when every OR is running, and check if the pressure stays stable.
Most contractors skip all of this. They’re in it for the money, not the patient’s safety.
Failure Number Five: Choosing the Wrong Contractor.
This one’s hard because you can’t tell just by looking at their proposal or their office.
But here’s what actually matters:
- Ask them for 3 hospitals they’ve done work for. Call those hospitals directly and talk to the biomedical team. Don’t just ask “are you happy?” Ask specific things: did it work the first day, did anything break in the first year, can they reach you at night if something goes wrong.
- Tell them to show you photos or documents of NABH-compliant systems they installed. Get the hospital names and verify.
- Ask if they have a second technician. If their main guy gets sick or leaves, can they still support you?
- Ask what happens at 2 AM on a Sunday if your oxygen system fails. Will they actually come or will they say call back Monday?
Most contractors will just send you a pretty PDF with features and pricing. The ones who actually know what they’re doing will ask YOU questions first. They’ll want to understand your hospital before they even quote.
WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED IN YOUR MGPS.
Before you approve any project, your hospital needs these things. Non-negotiable.
Gas Sources.
For oxygen: Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) tank as primary source. Cylinder manifold as backup. Minimum 4 cylinders, automatically switches when main tank is low. Do NOT use a single source.
For medical air: Oil-free medical-grade compressor. Not industrial. Not good enough. Medical-grade. Should have automatic alternation between two compressors so one can be serviced without shutting down the hospital.
For vacuum: Oil-free vacuum pump, with capacity to handle all operating theaters plus ICU simultaneously.
Pipeline and Materials.
Copper pipes must be medical-grade. ISO 7396 / IS 7396 certified. Minimum 98.5 percent pure copper. If a contractor can’t show you certification, don’t sign.
Pipe diameter must be calculated based on flow requirements for each zone. Wrong diameter equals pressure drops equals dead zones where gas doesn’t reach properly.
Color coding:
- Yellow-white for oxygen.
- Blue-white for medical air.
- Green for vacuum.
This prevents staff accidentally connecting something to the wrong outlet. It’s happened before.
Outlets and Connection Points.
Non-interchangeable quick-connect outlets. DISS standard. This means an oxygen outlet won’t accidentally accept a medical air connection. Safety feature, non-negotiable.
Outlets should be placed at appropriate heights and locations based on clinical workflow. An outlet hidden behind a monitor is useless.
Alarm System.
Central alarm panel in areas where someone is always watching:
- ER desk
- ICU desk
- OT control room
- Not in a back office
Alarms should trigger if:
- Pressure drops below safe levels.
- Backup source kicks in (meaning primary has failed).
- Oxygen sources are depleting faster than expected.
Test these alarms monthly. If staff ignore alarms because they go off randomly, your system is badly designed.
Backup and Redundancy.
- Single source equals single point of failure equals patient risk.
- Oxygen: Primary LMO tank plus backup cylinder manifold
- Medical air: Two compressors with automatic switchover.
- Vacuum: Backup pump or large accumulator tank.
- If primary fails, backup takes over automatically. No downtime.
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS (WHAT NABH AND HTM ACTUALLY DEMAND).
You’ll hear about NABH compliance but most contractors don’t actually know what this means. Here’s the practical breakdown.
NABH Standards for MGPS.
- Centralized source with backup – Single source fails NABH audit.
- Pressure gauges and alarms at source and distribution points.
- Regular pressure and purity testing – Documented.
- Maintenance schedule in writing – Not just whenever something breaks.
- Staff training on alarm response – Not optional.
HTM 02-01 (UK Standard, widely referenced in India)
Even if you’re not aiming for UK accreditation, many Indian hospitals follow HTM standards because they’re comprehensive:
- Pipe material specifications.
- Installation pressure requirements.
- Testing protocols before handover.
- Maintenance procedures.
- Staff competency requirements.
If your contractor doesn’t know HTM, they don’t know medical gas systems well.
ISO 7396 (International Standard)
Medical-grade copper pipe, purity standards, connection design. Just know it exists and ask your contractor if they’re following it.
Key Compliance Mistakes.
- Not testing gas purity before using the system – Purity test equals gas sample sent to lab, checked for contaminants.
- No documented maintenance schedule – NABH auditors ask for records.
- Alarms placed where no one sees them.
- Staff not trained on alarm meanings and emergency procedures.
- No pressure testing done before handover.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR MGPS PROJECT CORRECTLY (STEP BY STEP).
If you’re a hospital looking to install MGPS or upgrade an existing system, here’s the exact sequence.
Step One: Define Your Needs (Not the Contractor’s Idea of Needs)
Answer these questions:
- How many ORs? How many simultaneous surgeries?
- How many ICU beds?
- How many ward beds, emergency bays, specialty clinics?
- Future expansion plans? Next 5 years?
- What time of day do all your ORs get booked at the same time? Monday mornings? Specific days of the week?
Because if all your ORs are running at once and your oxygen tank can’t handle it, you’ve got a problem. Your system dies right when you need it most.
Step Two: Design Phase (Get an Independent Design Review)
Don’t let the contractor alone design the system. They optimize for ease of installation, not clinical safety.
A proper design includes:
- Pressure calculations for each zone.
- Pipe routing – How do pipes run through your building without disrupting wards?
- Outlet locations – Based on actual clinical workflow.
- Backup system design – What’s the failover plan?
- Future expansion points – Where can new outlets be added?
Cost: 20,000 to 30,000 rupees for a proper design review. Worth every rupee because it prevents 5-lakh disasters later.
Step Three: Material Specification.
Before sending out tenders, specify:
- Medical-grade copper pipes – ISO 7396
- Specific pressure regulator models.
- Alarm system requirements.
- Source equipment specifications.
- Testing requirements before handover.
Don’t say oxygen delivery system. Say Liquid Medical Oxygen tank, 1000 liter capacity, with automatic switchover to 4-cylinder backup manifold, pressure regulators set to 50 psi, area alarms in ICU/OT/ER.
This prevents contractors from swapping in cheaper, worse alternatives.
Step Four: Contractor Selection
Get references. Call 3 hospitals using the same contractor. Ask:
- Did the system work on day one?
- Any issues in the first 6 months?
- How’s the emergency response?
- Would you use them again?
A good contractor will have happy references. A bad one will give you names of offices, not actual hospitals.
Step Five: Installation with Supervision
Don’t disappear after signing. Hospital representative or biomedical engineer should oversee installation daily. Document everything.
Check:
- Materials actually delivered match specifications.
- Pipe connections are clean – No debris inside pipes.
- Pressure tests being done.
- Pressure gauges installed correctly.
Step Six: Testing Before Handover.
This is non-negotiable.
- 24-hour pressure hold test – Pressure should not drop more than 1 psi
- Gas purity testing – Independent lab, samples from multiple outlets
- Alarm system functionality – All alarms tested, response verified
- Load test – All outlets opened simultaneously. Does pressure hold?
Only sign off after passing all tests. Get test reports in writing
Step Seven: Staff Training
Your team needs to understand:
- What each alarm means.
- Emergency procedures if the system fails.
- How to monitor pressure gauges.
- Basic troubleshooting – Why pressure might drop.
One hour training session minimum. Document attendance.
Step Eight: Maintenance Schedule.
In writing. Not we’ll service it when needed.
- Monthly: Pressure and alarm testing.
- Quarterly: Source equipment maintenance.
- Annually: Full system pressure test plus gas purity check.
- Every 5 years: Pipe inspection for corrosion.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CONTRACTOR (RED FLAGS).
- Price seems too cheap compared to others.
- They won’t provide references or references are vague.
- They can’t explain why medical-grade materials cost more.
- No mention of NABH compliance or standards.
- They pressure you to sign before you’ve done your checks.
- No written testing protocol before handover.
- Can’t guarantee response time for emergencies.
WHAT ACTUALLY SEPARATES GOOD CONTRACTORS FROM BAD ONES.
A good contractor will:
- Ask detailed questions about your hospital layout and clinical needs.
- Explain why they’re recommending certain equipment.
- Provide a written design and specifications document.
- Insist on proper testing before handover.
- Give you maintenance documentation and training.
- Be available for emergency calls after installation.
- Have verifiable NABH-compliant installations.
A bad contractor will:
- Give you a quote without understanding your hospital.
- Use the cheapest available materials.
- Install and leave.
- Not answer questions about compliance.
- Disappear after you’ve paid.
FINAL REALITY CHECK.
An MGPS isn’t just oxygen pipes. It’s the difference between a patient getting oxygen instantly and a patient’s oxygen saturation dropping because there’s a pressure leak somewhere.
It’s between your OR running on schedule and canceling cases because the medical air compressor failed.
It’s between passing the NABH audit on the first attempt and failing because alarms weren’t working.
The hospitals that get this right invest time in planning, choose contractors carefully, insist on proper testing, and maintain the system regularly.
The hospitals that get this wrong pay 8 lakhs instead of 12 lakhs upfront, and spend 30 lakhs fixing problems afterward.
Choose wisely.
Want assessment of your current or planned MGPS? Contact our team for a technical consultation.
📞 Call +91 83839 39473
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MedGenz Medical Gas Pipeline System (MGPS) solution contact information.
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