Angkor Hospital for Children

On Monday, June 21st, Sivpheng (the Cambodian coordinator for volunteers) gave the Plasticos Team a tour of the Angkor Hospital for Children (where we will be operating).  We were very impressed with the organization and facilities offered for the patients.

At the time the hospital was founded in the mid 1990s, there was an absence of quality medical care in Cambodia.  1 in 5 children died before the age of 5. Many children suffered and died from common illnesses that would be easily treatable in developed nations.  The hospital was created to provide quality healthcare to all children regardless of their social stature, income and medical needs. In only 10 years, the hospital has treated 3 quarters of a million children. Now, thanks to the quality of medical care of the Angkor Hospital, the death rate of children under 5 years old, is 1 in 15.

In addition to treating patients in the hospital, it is officially recognized as a teaching hospital for doctors, nurses, patients, and the entire family, providing holistic care and education, with the opportunity to learn about a healthy lifestyle, including proper nutrition, dental hygiene, etc. One of the things that was particularly impressive was the onsite vegetable and fruit garden, that the staff utilizes to teach the patients and parents how to garden and what to plant. The families are provided seeds to plant their own gardens, and water is donated from various organizations.

Garden at Angkor Hospital

In addition, the hospital has a camping area for families who have traveled from a far distance, as well as, a cooking area, where staff members teach parents of patients how and what to cook for their children. In a number of places throughout the hospital are boards with pictures of food groups, the types of foods a mother who is breastfeeding should eat, a recipe for a “special soup” that has all the nutrients the children need.

The Angkor Hospital has a number of beneficial factors:

• There is a 5 to 1 patient to nurse ratio
• Typically the hospital screens 450-500 patients a day (70% see a doctor, 30% given advice)  The hospital screened 720 patients were on our first day of work
  

  Weighing a Child at Angkor

• Volunteers from all over the world spend time doing surgery and teaching in the hospital
• The hospital survives on donations from International funds
• $5000 can fund the entire hospital for an entire day (400 children can be taken care of)

Patients at the Angkor Hospital

The Hospital cannot survive without donations and funding from International organizations. Plasticos plays an intricate role in helping to perform and teach complicated surgeries to doctors and nurses so that after the team has left, the Angkor staff has the skills to continue performing these types of surgeries. In addition, the Plasticos team will be donating a large amount of medical supplies, including a Bovie and anesthesia machine.