The Voom Foundation

“Annual board review via email.”

“Periodic review and board approval of executive director salary.”

“No documents available to the public”

“Who we are 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 nigerians 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 work our inaugural voom foundation medical mission took place in may 2011. Although, this mission was educational only, voom sent a team of eight volunteers to the university of nigeria teaching hospital, enugu. The mission opened a networking relationship between voom foundation and nigerian medical practitioners and formed the foundation for the subsequent clinical missions. Since then, each voom medical mission typically includes a group of up to 15 medical volunteers from across the nation recently expanding to include teams with members from united kingdom and pakistan. Each trip is approximately two weeks long and includes evaluation of patients and confirmation of diagnoses. Each mission involves cardiac surgeons, a cardiologist, an intensivist, an anesthesiologist, perfusion team, a respiratory therapist, icu nurses and a biomedical engineer. Each medical volunteer joins the mission with the intention to provide medical expertise and knowledge, teaching best practices to the local medical staff. In august 2015, the local team performed the first unassisted open-heart surgery since the clinical missions began in 2013. Although this is a huge accomplishment, voom continues to pursue the mission of educating nigerian medical practitioners to allow them to advance standard of care. During a mission, our medical volunteers expand voom reach by performing more than just heart surgery. In order to impact change and be in line with our mission to reach indigent patients in need, voom volunteers engage in the following activities during their two week stay: medical missions voom foundation currently leads nigeria in open-heart procedures performed. Although we are very proud of this statistic, it is a statistic that should not exist. Over sixty percent of nigeria is currently living in poverty and over ninety percent lives without essential healthcare. Voom foundation is committed to utilizing our resources and expertise to change the current state of healthcare within the country and to continue to deliver services to the underserved. Medical supplies & equipment tens of thousands of dollars of medical supplies and equipment is shipped to nigeria from voom foundation yearly. Voom equipped two operating theatres and four icu beds with ventilators and drips allowing unth to conduct heart surgery throughout duration of the year. Voom bring thousands of dollars worth of supplies to assist with the success of our partner hospitals. Education & training over 300 prospective and current nigerian medical practitioners attended training conducted by the voom foundation volunteers, so the good works can continue long after the mission. Health fa”

“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. 2021 - in september and december the voom foundation performed 7 medical missions bringing the total of medical missions to 30. The medical teams have performed a total of 152 open-heart procedures since its inception. 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 and africa.”