Church Donation of Heart Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Will Save Lives of Heart Patients
ការបរិច្ចាគ​របស់​សាសនាចក្រ​នៅ​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​សម្រាប់​ព្យាបាល​ជំងឺ​បេះដូង​នៅ​ខេត្ត​សៀមរាប​នៃ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា នឹង​ជួយសង្រ្គោះ​ដល់​ជីវិត​អ្នកជំងឺ​បេះដូង​ជាច្រើន​នាក់

ដើម្បីអានជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចុច នៅទីនេះ

“This is indeed a donation from our hearts to your hearts.” That was how Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai characterized the gift of a new heart center for the Siem Reap Referral Hospital in northwestern Cambodia.  

Officials from the hospital and the Siem Reap provincial government said the contribution from The Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will save lives and benefit thousands of Cambodians with heart disease.

His Excellency Dy Rado, deputy governor of the Siem Reap Province, thanked the Church for its contribution and said it will strengthen the provincial hospital and benefit patients from a wide region. He noted that the hospital also serves many tourists who come to visit the nearby Angkor wat temple complex and other attractions.

At the Feb. 13, 2025, groundbreaking ceremony, Elder Tai, who serves as president of the Church’s Asia Area, said the heart center donation was made possible through small charitable contributions made by ordinary Church members throughout the world. “Our members will be happy to know that their contributions are going to such a great cause that will make life better for our friends here in Cambodia,” he said.

The project has been in the works for a number of years. Church humanitarian missionary couples could see a great need for a heart center in a location outside of Phnom Penh, the nation’s capital. In January 2024, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Cambodia and announced that the Church would build a heart center at the Siem Reap Referral Hospital. Since then, the local team and missionaries concluded the lengthy approval process and selected consultants and contractors.  The project will require about one year to build and equip. It is the Church’s largest humanitarian project to date in Cambodia. 

The ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on the new heart center featured much pomp and pageantry, including speeches by dignitaries and the colorful Krong Pali Ceremony, a traditional Cambodian Buddhist rite that blesses an important project as it begins.

The main feature of the heart center will be a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory, the first in the country outside of Phnom Penh. The game-changing technology will allow heart disease patients in Siem Reap and surrounding provinces to be treated locally instead of having to travel several hours to Phnom Penh on a congested highway. Currently, many patients with heart emergencies simply do not survive the trip.

“This project will save many lives,” said Dr. Chen Narong, a cardiologist who, along with his team, is being trained to treat patients at the lab. “It will transform heart care in our region.”

Dr. Chen and his team will be able to diagnose and treat many heart problems by inserting a catheter (a long thin tube) into a large blood vessel and guiding it to the heart. A camera and various instruments may be placed at the tip of the catheter to detect heart problems and perform life-saving procedures to restore blood flow by clearing narrowed or blocked arteries or widening narrowed heart valve openings.  

Besides constructing the two-level heart center above the existing one-story Blood Bank Building, the Church is donating all the high-tech, specialized equipment needed for the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Elder Tai told the audience of dignitaries, physicians and hospital staff that the Heart Center project is “close to my heart” because he is a former heart patient himself, and he understands the importance of skilled cardiologists and state-of-the-art treatment technologies.  

He said the Church has been in the Siem Reap community for about 20 years and has been blessed and welcomed by the people. “We welcome this opportunity to give back to the community with this health facility. We believe we show we love God by loving and serving our neighbors.”

Dr. Pen Phalkun, director of the Siem Reap Referral Hospital, said the hospital serves thousands of patients each year, many with difficult health problems that can’t be treated in the region’s small hospitals and health centers.

Heart disease is a growing problem, the hospital director said. With the new heart center, cardiologists will be able to treat patients with life-threatening heart conditions locally. He thanked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on behalf of all the patients, doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel.