A trauma center is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergency department (also known as a “casualty department” or “accident and emergency”) without the presence of specialized services to care for victims of major trauma. A clinic like the trauma center are equipped to handle life-threatening and critical injuries. Highly-specialized surgeons work with the most advanced equipment to increase the likelihood of survival in patients that are sent there.
This project is supervised and constructed by Ghana National Gas Company Limited and work is about 80-85% complete within Atuabo, where the Gas Processing Plant (GPP) is suited. This trauma center is there not only to provide services to Ghana Gas workers but rather the community and the country at large. On a visit to the trauma center at Atuabo, work is progressing steadily and the gas company is determined to see this highly-specialized surgeons work with modern equipment that will cater for these life-threatening injuries to all sorts of people. The trauma center will have a comprehensive availability of resources to provide the entire spectrum of care anytime of the day to address the needs of all types of injured patients. Per the vision of the gas company, when done, the hospital will be providing specialized services and the resources to patients suffering from traumatic injuries. Usually, an appropriate treatment by specially trained staff to be able to help to reduce the likelihood of death and permanent disability to injury patients.
This project when completed will have a surgery room to oversee a major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds to all individuals and even to referral cases from our counterparts in Ivory Coast since they are close to the gas processing plants in the Western Region of Ghana. The Atuabo trauma center will have 16 beds for regular ward, in all, 8 beds for VIP ward for government officials, chief executives, board members of the gas company and important personalities and 4 beds for the High Dependency Unit. Ancillary facilities include Oxygen Cylinder Building, Radiology department building, 2 Guard houses and a Helipad which will transport serious cases from far and near. Again, the trauma center will have offices for both doctors and nurses, a reception, a radiology department or center. The trauma center will be affordable to the people of Atuabo as compared to other people from the regions and outside the country.
Sinopec Services scope of work commenced in November, 2020 and is scheduled to complete in July, 2023 but date for completion will be moved back since the project was put on hold for sometime. Because the gas company is determined to provide quality services to the workers of Ghana Gas and the community people from far and near, additional utilities to be provided include the Civil Package which includes Civil works outside the boundary areas of the Trauma Center Building. Other additional utilities include the Mechanical Electrical Plumbing (MEP) Package which includes a Waste Treatment facility, Water Treatment Plant, Power Generation and Distribution to the Trauma Center and a Fibre Optic Cable connection from GPP to Trauma Center. Health and safety of people are the priorities of the gas company since the environment matters a lot to them especially the project affected area and the country.
According to Ghana Gas’s HR policy, Ghana Gas is committed to achieving a high standard of occupational health and safety at all times to all persons. Additional services include X-Ray services, Ultrasound scan services and Emergency Ambulance services to facilitate the daily operational needs of the Trauma center. The facility will offer ultramodern healthcare which has been absent in the vicinity for long and Atuabo and its enclave, as a result, will see an increase in the success rate of attendance to critical cases in the community. This trauma center project in the Western Region is aimed at augmenting government’s effort to provide quality healthcare to the people of Ghana. One will ask, why Atuabo in the Western Region? The gas company in the discharge of its duties, emphasized the need for a project in its affected community and the whole country at large.
The gas company provide assistance and help to every Ghanaian and project of such nature will not only be restricted to the people living in the western region but the country at large since everybody living in all part of the country is a Ghanaian. Ghana belongs to every Ghanaian. Ghanaians should be citizens and not spectators, a great attribution by Ghana’s head of states Nana Akufo-Addo. The projects done by this gas company all over the country is to ensure that, the people will benefit from Ghana’s natural resources in the form of health, education, water and sanitation, sports and sponsorship for individuals and institutions.
For Ghana Gas, the priority of the Ghanaian is their hallmark and the Chief Executive Officer of the company is a perfect example of providing assistance to all sort of individuals who knocks on their doors. The trauma center has come to stay and provide health assistance to all Ghanaians.
Africa is a continent richly endowed with natural resources with almost half of its 55 countries known to have proven natural gas reserves. Across the entire continent, natural gas reserves amount to a total of more than 800 trillion cubic feet, with BP predicting that the production of natural gas in the continent will expand by 80% by 2035, contributing to rising Gross Domestic Profit (GDP), the emergence of middle-class consumers and increased market value. As a major source of wealth and energy in Africa, the development of oil and gas resources proves critical for economic growth and revenue expansion.
By Romeo Oduro