With the support of Occidental, the Todos los Santos Health Center begins operations.

Ecopetrol, Occidental de Colombia, LLC (Occidental), and the El Alcaraván Foundation, carried out the adaptation of the health center of the corregimiento Todos los Santos, located in the Nubes A village, in the municipality of Arauca, and equipped it with the necessary medical elements to start its operation.

The provision of the service, which starts today, includes the care of common illnesses of the residents of the Caño Limón oil field, from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a permanent nurse, and with a doctor on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the same hours. In case of emergency, patients will have the possibility of being transferred from the Todos los Santos health center to the corresponding hospital or IPS.

Additionally, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the doctor will provide consultations at the La Pesquera health center, also complementing the service currently provided there by the Special Administrative Health Unit of Arauca (UAESA).

Patricio Rivera, Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment, and Social Responsibility of Occidental, stated: “With the commissioning of this infrastructure, we aim to contribute, amid the Covid-19 crisis, to strengthening the health services of the department of Arauca. We hope that Arauca continues to be free of coronavirus infection cases. However, we are confident that the Todos los Santos health center will help decongest hospitals or other urban health centers, and additionally, we will be able to develop health promotion and prevention programs for neighboring communities there.”.

With the support of Ecopetrol and Occidental, the service at Todos los Santos will operate for a period of six months, at which point the municipal and departmental administrations will take over the provision of services.

“The construction of this center, which was handed over to the community and authorities in 2017, was the result of the joint efforts of the villages of Sinaí, Nubes A, and El Final, who decided to allocate the social investment resources provided by Ecopetrol and Occidental for the execution of a high-impact project that would benefit all the villages of the Corregimiento,” recalled María de la Paz García, Social Responsibility Manager of Occidental.

The service provided by the Todos los Santos Health Center replaces the care that was offered at the health post located at the entrance of the Caño Limón facilities, a place that had to limit its attention to the community in the current situation.

Ecopetrol and Occidental reiterate the importance of preventing the spread of Covid-19 in Arauca with measures of isolation, social distancing, use of personal protective equipment, and frequent handwashing with clean water and plenty of soap. They also remind the community that in cases of suspected Covid-19 infection, individuals should report it directly to the authorities through the line 125.