WHO WE ARE

WE ARE VOOM FOUNDATION

The Vincent Obioma Ohaju Memorial (VOOM) Foundation was established to raise standard of care and create a sustainable medical program in Nigeria.

VOOM Foundation was born from the vision of Dr. Vincent Ohaju, Chief of Surgery & Medical Director for Trauma Services at CHI St. Joseph Health in Bryan, Texas. Originally from the town of Ihitte, in South Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Ohaju had personally witnessed the effects of inadequate available medical care on friends and family. His father, Vincent Obioma Ohaju passed away in 1983 at the age of 56 due to complications from pulmonary aspiration. A simple procedure such as bronchosocopy readily available in even the smallest hospital in the United States could have prevented his demise.

It was a close and personal reminder to Dr. Ohaju that over 95% of the people in Nigeria live without essential medical services. In 2016 the World Health Organization ranked Nigeria 163 out of 190 countries in healthcare.

The Nigerian healthcare system is poorly developed and suffers from several recent epidemics. Despite Nigerian’s strategic position in Africa, the country is greatly underserved in the healthcare sphere. Health facilities, expertise,  personnel, medical equipment and major diagnostic modalities are inadequate, especially in rural areas.

MISSION

VOOM Foundation’s mission is to provide impartial sustainable healthcare programs dedicated to quality, with a particular interest in supporting the underprivileged and underserved.

VISION

In the effort to fulfill this mission and continuously improve our programs, the Board of Directors and our volunteers are committed to the following values and principles:
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VOOM Foundation will be a state-of-the-science healthcare and health access facilitator for its intended beneficiaries and a learning source for others in the provision of healthcare to patients.

OUR HISTORY 

VOOM Looking Back

2023
VOOM Foundation led all Nigerian institutions in open-heart surgery for the year, greatly in part to our in-country partners, The Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital and the Healthy Heart Foundation.  VOOM completed 45 surgery cases, 19 cath procedures, 4 pacemakers implants, 136 medical volunteers, 1149 outreach patients, 7475 volunteer training hours and 4358 pounds of donated medicine.  

2021

VOOM Foundation resumed medical mission activity in September 2021.  We completed three missions including launching a new program at the Univeristy of Calabar Teaching Hospital.  

VOOM also began partnership with the Healthy Heart Foundation/Nigeira.  HHF has a goal to support indigent care 

2020 

VOOM Foundation ceased medical missions for the year due to COVID-19 Pandemic.  Unable to travel due to restrictions, the VOOM  board of directors diligently worked on our partnership withe Sir Emeka Okwuosa Foundation to build The Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital, a new private facility in Oriafite, Nigeira.  In agreement by both parties, VOOM will serve as the medical partner for the newly formed hospital.  VOOM Foundation sent four 40ft containers of donated medical equipment and consumable supplies to Oriafite in preparation for the program launch scheduled in late 2021.    

VOOM also sent several containers of equipment and supplies to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in Calabar, Nigeria.   UCTH cardiac program is also set to launch sometimes in 2021 when travel into the country is permitted.  

2017

March 2013 through May 2017, VOOM Foundation perform a total of 12 medical missions and assists in six others. The medical teams have perform a total of 169 open-heart procedures exceeding the total number of cardiac procedures in the previous 26 years.

Each VOOM medical mission typically includes a group of up to 15 medical volunteers from across the nation – as well as other countries, Canada, United Kingdom, and India.

2013

In 2013, VOOM Foundation creates a partnership with the “University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital” in Enugu. Nigeri. UNTH is considered a Cardiothoracic Centre of Excellence and pioneeres the only open-heart program in the country in 1974. By 2003, UNTH completes a total of 102 open-heart cases in a country with a population of 126 million at the time.

January 2013, VOOM Foundation begins shipment of the first 40-foot container worth of medical equipment and supplies including four ICU beds, ventilators, anesthesia machines, operating room tables, etc.

2004

In 2004 and inspired by his father’s death – Dr. Vincent Ohaju establishes the VOOM Foundation as an international medical humanitarian organization. The initial goal is to provide independent, impartial medical care in Nigeria and surrounding developing countries.

2022

VOOM partners with the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital in Oraifite, Nigeria to open a new state-of-the art hospital, The Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital/DIOM, where VOOM Foundation will serve as the medical partner and provide medical expertise to all aspects of healthcare care.   This facility will include a Cath Lab, blood bank and electronic record system to better enhance patient experience.  

In May, a VOOM Foundation open-heart medical team visited the hospital and performed seven open-heart cases.  

In November, VOOM began partnership with Columbia Medical to begin open-heart programs for children.  Records were set as we performed our first pediatric mission at the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital and recorded 14 cases in 7days and recorded 4 cases on one single day.  An adult mission followed totally 25 open-heart cases for the mission.  

November was particularly special because of the launch of the intervention cardiology program.  A total of 12 cardiac cath procedures and one pacemaker implantation took place during the mission.  

VOOM also evaluated 512 patients during our health-fair screening and distributed 4488 pounds of donated medicine. 

2019

VOOM Foundation partners with Sir Emeka Okwuosa Foundation to build a free standing private hospital, the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital,  in Oriafite, Nigeria.  In a memorandum of understanding VOOM agrees to deliver the medical program with an intent to train and educate the local staff and install standards based on quality. 

2018
VOOM Foundation begins a partnership with Lagos State Univeristy Teaching Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. 

2015

The local team performs the first unassisted open-heart surgery since the missions began in 2013. Two other missions were conducted this year.

Each trip is approximately two weeks long and includes evaluation of patients and confirmation of diagnoses.

2012

Exploratory study, design and preparation for the re-opening of the open-heart surgery in Nigeria at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital.

2011

Eight medical volunteers conducted a four-day conference providing training in:

• Fundamental Critical Care Support
• Emergency Medical Services
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support
• Rural Trauma Team Development

We are guided by the following principles:

1. VOOM Foundation aids populations with medical needs without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.
2. VOOM Foundation observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and demands full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.
3. VOOM Foundation’s volunteers work hard to respect their professional code of ethics and to maintain complete independence from all political, economic and religious powers.
   
   

As volunteers, members are aware of the risks and dangers of the mission they undertake, and have no right to compensation for themselves or their beneficiaries other than that which The VOOM Foundation can afford them.
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Dr. Ohaju believes those who can change a desperate situation have an obligation to try.

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