Patients and their family members can refill empty oxygen tanks this weekend at the Brook Park Recreation Center. A mobile “oxygen generator” will be available in the parking lot of the center, located at 17400 Holland Rd on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Each person can bring up to three small tanks refill for free that are “D” or “E” cylinder sized. The refill station is for emergencies. Once the tanks are refilled, patients should call the phone number on their tank for follow-up supplies.
MetroHealth Medical Center patients who have called about oxygen refills will be contacted by the hospital to schedule appointments for tank refills on Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon, according to a county release.
Additional refill station dates and locations will be announced once scheduled.
The Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management is coordinating the refill stations. The Ohio Department of Health supplied the equipment after getting a request from the county Thursday evening, a spokesperson said. The county told state officials that it was seeing an increase in hospital emergency visits from oxygen-dependent community members requiring refills, according to Ken Gordon.
Patients who use oxygen often have use concentrator machines that require electricity. Often, they keep spare oxygen tanks in case of power outages or other emergencies but after days without power, those supplies can run out.
