Staff at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Anguilla used to spend about three hours a day just filling oxygen canisters, said Malcolm Webster, the hospital’s health services coordinator. Often, he simply did it himself to minimize disruption. He recalled getting a phone call at 2:00 am on a rainy night in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The hospital was calling: They were out of oxygen on the isolation ward,” he said. “Imagine wet tanks, each 100 pounds, slipping all over the place.” For years, Princess Alexandra’s staff had expended many hours each week sourcing medical oxygen. A small plant produced oxygen that was then carried to the hospital in 100-pound canisters, although often not enough to meet demand. The rest, like other medical gases, was sourced from elsewhere. “Medical gases, they aren’t produced on the island,” Webster explained.…