Rotary Club of Tema-Meridian, in partnership with Rotary Club of Hannover-Ballhof, Germany, has handed over an oxygen generation system with other hospital equipment to the Catholic Hospital Battor to facilitate oxygen supply and other hospital activities.
The Rotarian President for Rotary Club of Tema-Meridian, Ethel Vandor-Odonkor, mentioned this project, which cost close to US$85000 and took about three years to complete, was funded by the Rotary Foundation.
She mentioned that apart from the Oxygen Generation System, a list of other hospital equipment were also delivered to the hospital from Germany. Madam Ethel Vandor-Odonkor, speaking at the commissioning and hand-over of the project, indicated that the COVID–19 pandemic was one of the major reasons for the delay of the project, and acknowledge the support received from past presidents of the club for the completion of the project.
“I want to thank the Rotary Foundation, past presidents and members of the Rotary Club of Tema-Meridian and also our partners in Germany, the Rotary Club of Hannover-Ballhof for partnering our club for smooth execution of this project. We believe our co-operation will be a long-lasting one,” she said. She further explained that the club was 21 years this year; and since its inception, it has undertaken many projects across Ghana.
The Assistant Governor for Rotary District 9102, AG Mumuni Haruna, who represented the District Governor, said Rotary is a service and voluntary organisation. It’s made up of different professionals who come together and help the community. Rotary is divided in zones and districts. Ghana is part of district 9102 – which include Togo, Benin and Niger. Rotary has seven areas of focus which include fighting of disease, under which this project falls. He appealed to the hospital to take very good care of the oxygen generation system as well as the other equipment. “I would like to appeal to all of you working at this hospital to take very good care of this equipment which should be transferred to the next generation. Sustainability is important and there could be breakdowns, so they must be well-maintained for the next generation,” he said.
Doctor Bernard Hayford Atuguba, the Medical Superintendent of Catholic Hospital Battor, mentioned the support of the Rotary Clubs came at the right time.
“The hospital has 76 cylinders and spend about GH¢8000 to GH¢10,000 weekly on refilling of our oxygen cylinders, this excludes maintenance and fuel. The stress and difficulties in pulling and swapping empty cylinder being an issue of the past should be much joy to our nurses,” he said.
Doctor Hayford Atuguba said the facility is a 100 cubic metre oxygen generation system which has been designed to serve the entire hospital, adding that: “The hospital currently uses about 15 percent of the oxygen generated, and the rest of the facilities would be connected soon”.
He added that this will not only benefit people of the North Tongu District since the hospital has about 60 percent of the of its users coming from Accra and 40 percent from Volta Region and other districts, and even countries like Togo.
The heads of the various units of the hospital applauded the gesture of the Rotary Club of Tema-Meridian and Rotary Club of Hannover-Ballhof, adding that: “They have brought life to Battor since Oxygen is life”.
The oxygen generation system currently serves three wards which include the emergency unit, recovery ward and the theatre.
Rotary International has been in service for more than 110 years, and has more than 1.2 million members globally. It’s made up of neighbours, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe.
