Aug 2008 Year-to-Date Total
Outpatient 9,666
60,272
569,008

Inpatient 250
1,629
24,166

Intensive Care Unit 85
453
3,725

Low Acuity Unit 105
606
7,491

Emergency 611
4,538
86,171

Surgery 114
801
8,909

Home Care 270
1,665
11,980

Dental Care 1,460
8,146
95,562

Eye Care 210
1,697
11,640

ARV Treatment 3 49 481
Lab Tests 4,903
24,858
281,547

One of the many children admitted to the AHC this month.

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One Child’s Story

Left: 14 year old Khea Sohtea before surgery.
Right: One week after surgery.

This month, 14-year-old Khea Sohtea made the 11-hour journey with her family from her home in Pursat Province to AHC to receive treatment for a cleft palate and lip. Despite having the deformity since birth, this young girl had never seen a doctor for treatment. She only came to AHC after her aunt was visiting Siem Reap and found out about the hospital. She has had significant difficulties speaking and will benefit enormously from the surgery.

Significantly, just a few years ago our local surgical team at AHC would not have been able to perform the surgery without the direct assistance of visiting foreign doctors. Now, thanks to those volunteers for the teaching they have provided and to the dedication of our Cambodian staff, AHC’s surgical team have the needed technical skills to perform more and more complex surgeries independently.

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Collaborating in National Training Programs

Government health workers learn about common childhood diseases in AHC's Outpatient Department.
Once again, for two weeks this month, AHC was chosen as a site to host Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) training. The IMCI strategy was developed by the Cambodian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization in order to reduce Cambodia’s high child mortality rate. The new strategy aims to change the way primary health care workers evaluate a patient, ensuring that every child,regardless of the reason for their visit, is assessed for diarrhea, respiratory problems, fever, malnutrition, and other common problems.

This month, 24 health workers from Prey Veng Province and seven facilitators from the Ministry of Health used our hospital as a training site, learning from the hundreds of children that arrive at the hospital each day. At AHC they are able to learn in the classroom and apply their knowledge in a clinical setting before returning home.

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Nursing Students

Nursing students writing post-training exams.
Thirty-six nursing students from Kam Pot and Kampong Chham Provinces joined us in August for their two-week clinical placements. Each year, over 350 3rd year nursing students from the four Provincial Regional Training Centers as well as the Technical School for Medical Care in Phnom Penh come to learn about pediatric care and train on the wards with our nursing staff.

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Advanced Training for AHC Teaching Staff

AHC nurses, Lor Vary and Tann Bunchoeun (far left corner) attend teacher training in Thailand
Continuing to improve the teaching capacity of AHC staff, two of our nurses, Lor Vary and Tann Bunchhoeun, are attending the four-month “Clinical Teaching in Nursing” course held at held at Boromarajonani College of Nursing in Bangkok, Thailand. The course will enable these nurses to gain advanced knowledge and experience in clinical teaching and supervision for nursing students and other health workers.

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Community First Aid Training

Prak Manila teaches basic first -aid to employees of the Amansara Hotel.
August saw the continuation of AHC’s first aid training program. The education team ran two sessions to train over 25 employees of the Amansara Hotel. With new knowledge on how to treat choking, poisoning, burns, bleeding, broken bones, and other minor injuries, employees can implement their skills both in the workplace and in the home. As many of the employees travel from outlying areas to work in Siem Reap, they are able to extend their knowledge to others in more rural regions of the country.

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Training for Health Workers from Kratie Province

Left: Dr. Sietaboth works with staff from Kratie Hospital.
Right: Ms. Sin Lina teaches laboratory staff from Kratie.
Kratie Province is located in northeastern Cambodia, bordering Vietnam. Most Kratie residents are subsistence farmers or fishers and almost a third of the population lives on less than $1 per day.

With the support of the McKnight Foundation, AHC is partnering with Cambodia Medical Services Support Organization (CSSMO), a Kratie-based NGO, to improve the child health services in that province. Over the next two years, AHC will be providing training to doctors and nurses working in Kratie Referral Hospital.

This month, Kratie laboratory staff spent two-weeks working alongside AHC laboratory staff to learn more about blood bank services. Other health workers spent several days with AHC’s HIV/AIDS-Home Care program, exploring ways to provide service to children in their province.

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Visiting Medical Students and International Volunteers

Medical student Ryan Gallagher watches as AHC Home Care nurse Nem Nounsrey examines a child.
AHC regularly welcomes medical students from around the world who want to learn from our staff. This month, Ryan Gallagher, a medical student at the University of Alberta in Canada, came to shadow on our wards: “It’s been really interesting to treat tropical diseases I had only read about in text books.” Thanks to Ryan for all his hard work on our wards!

In addition to Ryan, AHC also hosted more than 25 other volunteers this month.

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Casino Royale Event in Calgary

An evening of socializing, fun money casino games, raffles and auctions to benefit the Angkor Hospital for Children will be held on October 25, 2008 in Calgary. For more information, please visit http://www.fwab.org/news.php.