ដើម្បីអានជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចុច នៅទីនេះ
A small health center in Tboung Khmum province in rural Cambodia now has a new maternity ward where babies can be delivered in safe, clean conditions with new, modern equipment.
In addition, two newer hospitals in the province now have new equipment to greatly improve service to patients, all thanks to donations and work by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
At a ceremony in the Dambae district of the province on June 7, 2025, government, Church and healthcare officials gathered to celebrate the “handover” of the equipment and new maternity ward, along with renovation projects at six primary schools (see related story).
“I am optimistic that completion of these projects will contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare for local residents,” said His Excellency Dr. Chay Borin, minister of Cults and Religion in Cambodia, who presided at the ceremony. Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai, Asia Area president, represented the Church.
The process of supporting the education and healthcare needs of the province began in January 2024 when Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. In that meeting, Elder Renlund promised to build a heart center in Siem Reap, and other needs were discussed. In the Tboung Khmum province, located in eastern Cambodia adjacent to the Vietnam border, critical healthcare needs were identified.
Commemorating the completion of the work, Elder Tai said, “We believe that our physical bodies are gifts from God and, like sacred temples, need to be looked after with great care and reverence. Hospitals and medical facilities are important to us, just as good physical and spiritual health are important.”
Senior humanitarian missionaries Elder Mark and Sister Marvel Earnshaw helped oversee the healthcare donations.
A new maternity ward in the Seda Senchhey Health Center had earlier been partially constructed, but funding was insufficient to finish it. The Church took on and completed the construction and provided OB-GYN equipment. The community health center serves 10,400 people in 13 villages and delivers eight to 10 babies each month.
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“Seeing the people’s faces and thankful tears of joy made it all worthwhile,” said Sister Earnshaw. “We are getting pictures of the first babies born in the new maternity ward. It is such a nice facility.”
Only one highly specialized eye doctor serves the province for nearly one million residents, said Elder Earnshaw. “Rarely do medical specialists leave the capital city of Phnom Penh because they are not reimbursed well in the rural areas. But this doctor has been doing eight to10 cataract surgeries a day for 20 years on very old equipment. We were able to get top quality eye equipment from Japan, including a new operating microscope and a slit lamp, and he has not stopped smiling since.”
Significant equipment donations were also made to two hospitals, the Kroch Chhmar Referral Hospital, serving 106,000 citizens, and the Dambae Referral Hospital, serving 85,000 citizens. Both are fairly new hospitals, but needed new medical equipment to adequately treat patients with a variety of medical conditions.
Equipment donated included X-ray C-arm, dental X-ray, patient monitors, autoclave, laboratory equipment, oximeter, computers and printers, oxygen system, ultrasound, delivery table, fetal monitor and other instruments.