Koh Thom District renovates Porthi Reamea Health Center and builds Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital to meet health care needs

On Feb. 5, 2022, an official inauguration was held to mark the start of the newly converted Porthi Reamea Health Center in the Koh Thom District, Kandal Province of Cambodia. Over 350 people attended.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony were performed by:

• H.E. Sun Chanthol, Senior Minister, Minister of Public Works and Transport
• H.E. Suong Heng, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (hereby referred to as the Ministry)
• H.E. Dr. Chheang Ra, Director-General of Calmette Hospital
• Dr. Dan Sellers from the Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereby referred to as the Association).

A number of secretaries of state, undersecretaries of state and civil servants in the Ministry were also present to support the event.

This conversion project is the result of several parties’ hard work as part of Cambodia Health Improvement Effort (CHIE), a program organized by the Association, which partners with local government and medical leaders in Cambodia, to improve healthcare and provide humanitarian aid for the poor and needy in the country. This project is part of the answer to meet existing healthcare needs in the Koh Thom District.

Background

Under the leadership of Senior Minister Sun Chanthol, who also acts as head of the Working Group for the Koh Thom District, the CHIE team conducted an analysis of the Koh Thom District Referral Hospital, which is the only hospital in the district, and found that even with extensive renovation it would still not adequately meet the healthcare needs of the district.

The course of action recommended to the Senior Minister was to rebuild the hospital, to which he agreed. Naturally the next question was raised, “How to care for the typical hospital patients during the process, when the plan called for demolition of the existing hospital and building the new one on the same plat?” The CHIE team, with input of experts at the Calmette Hospital, identified two nearby health centers in the district with an eye to expanding their capacities to help meet the healthcare needs in the Koh Thom District, one of them being the Porthi Reamea Health Center.

The Change and Anticipated Impact

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Over the course of three months, the small existing health center was completely renovated, with creation of small operating theater, X-ray, ultrasound, full laboratory, overnight call rooms for males and females, and director’s room.

With additional budget from H.E. Sun Chanthol’s group, CHIE medical professionals planned and oversaw the construction of a large additional building that houses a new generator donated by the Association, a pharmacy storage room, an administrative room, an emergency room, a pediatric ward, spacious new bathroom/shower facility, delivery room, post-delivery ward, trauma ward, general medicine ward, anesthesia room, special laboratory for tuberculosis/HIV processing, and provides a large cement-covered parking and ambulance entrance.

Dr. Sellers said, “This is now the most sophisticated healthcare facility in this district. While the new hospital is being constructed, this will serve the majority of the patients that would have gone to the hospital for care.”  The more critical cases will temporarily go to Phnom Penh’s Calmette Hospital.

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The Ministry reported that a total amount of US$275,000 has been spent on this conversion project; more than half of it was contributed by the Association.

Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital

As for the new facility, it will be renamed as the Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital. Ground was broken on Jan. 7, 2022 and construction is planned to be finished in April 2023. When complete, it will draw many patients from the surrounding areas, since it will be the most modern and well-equipped facility south of Phnom Penh. The initial estimation is that it will serve about 400,000 people in the surrounding area.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Sea Samnang, President of the Association, expressed his gratitude for having the opportunity to work closely with Senior Minister Sun Chanthol, Dr. Chheang Ra and Eng Cheng of Kaokimsan Construction Company to upgrade the hospital for the people of Koh Thom District.

The Church received recognition for the contributions they made, including having its CHIE representatives work closely with the Calmette Hospital team to:

• Recommend building a new hospital.
• Decide on the best health centers to renovate.
• Design the new hospital (see graphic below) as well as help with the design of the renovations on the health centers.
• Provide training to the staff of the Koh Thom District Referral Hospital, and all the health centers, while the new hospital is being rebuilt. 

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For more details about the new hospital, please click here