GNPC funded plastic and burns centre commissioned

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) funded Burns Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Complex of the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre (NRPSBC), Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has been commissioned in Accra.

The almost two million dollar facility, the only Centre of its kind and status in West Africa, was commissioned by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who promised to support it with his November salary.

The Centre is committed to reaching the highest level of excellence in the field of reconstructive plastic surgery, dutifully treating all patients with deformities, ulcers, burns, cancers and various injuries with respect and compassion and restoring them to as normal a state as possible.

Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong, the Chief Executive of the GNPC, said from available statistics, it was obvious that there was a need to improve the worrying survival rate of 40 per cent of burns patients.

“This critical and strategic facility being commissioned today, for which GNPC has invested almost 2.0 million dollars, is expected to ensure about 90 per cent survival rate of victims of burns,’ he said.

“I can confirm that the Board of Directors of GNPC has also approved the purchase of specialised cameras costing nearly 900,000 dollars for the Oncology Department of this Hospital. This we hope to deliver in the coming year, 2019.”

Dr Sarpong said it was the vision of the GNPC to be a leading global oil and gas organisation, whose operations have a profound impact on the quality of life of the people of Ghana.

He said it was against this background that their focus had been on the social impact of their operations through an emphasis on corporate social responsibility, spearheaded by the GNPC Foundation, established in 2017.

Classroom blocks, science laboratories, sanitation facilities, furniture and teaching aids had been provided for educational institutions from primary to tertiary levels, he said.

Boreholes, sanitary facilities, health campaigns and surgeries, markets and sports infrastructure have also been provided to communities across the country.

“I cannot forget to mention over 2000 scholarships offered to students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programmes in Ghanaian and overseas universities,” Dr Sarpong said.

“GNPC is delighted that in less than two years of its existence, the GNPC Foundation was voted as the Best Foundation for 2018 in the Sustainability and Social Investment Awards held last week. I take this opportunity to thank the gallant workers of the GNPC Foundation for making this possible.”

He noted that some of the health initiatives undertaken by GNPC in the past were Accident and Emergency Centre at the Jomoro Government Hospital and a classroom block and teaching aids for the Effia Nkwanta Nursing and Midwifery School.

Dr Sarpong said the GNPC had constructed a 4.5 million-dollar Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Treatment and Research at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and an 80-bed capacity hostel for St. John of God College of Health at Duayaw Nkwanta in the Brong Ahafo Region.

It has also invested in breast cancer and eye screening in the Western Region.

He said a programme to undertake hernia operation in the Northern Regions was being discussed with their partner, Aker Energy.

Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, the Director of NRSBC and Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, lauded the GNPC for going to the aid of the Centre.

“We owe a depth of gratitude to the Board and Management of the GNPC for their commitment, which ensured that they continued to support this landmark project to its successful completion,” he said.

“I trust that they will continue to empower our dreams of providing world class reconstructive surgery and burn care excellence by supporting the next phase of development of this facility such as the establishment of skin culture, tissue banking, tissue viability services, oxygen concentrator, and electronic medical records.”

Dr Ampomah said mass burn incidents were not uncommon in the country and that a significant cause of those mortalities had been the lack of an intensive care facility to support the critically ill, especially those with inhalation burn.

“This Burns ICU Complex is indeed a game changer in the management of severe burn cases,” he said.