Upcoming Event:
The 8th Annual Fundraising Gala in NYC benefiting AHC
Friends Without A Border will host their 8th Annual Fundraising
Gala benefiting Angkor Hospital for Children on Tuesday, April 13th,
2010 beginning at 7pm at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York City. April
13th is the Cambodian New Year. Come and shop at our Cambodian market,
experience traditional rituals and dance the night away... as you
support AHC.
For more information about this event, please contact Friends Without
A Border's office in New York at fwab@fwab.org or visit www.fwab.org/news.php
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Patient Story: " I
Saw the Green Heart..."
Nean Pisitmony was born in 1993 in Preah Vihear Province, more
than 100km from Siem Reap. In 1999, the same year the hospital opened,
Mony's parents brought him to AHC to find out what was making their
seven-year-old boy so sick. They had taken Mony to other hospitals,
as far away as Phnom Penh, but no one had been able to help them.
At AHC, Mony was quickly diagnosed with congenital heart disease
and with generous private funding, the hospital sent Mony to Malaysia
in 2000 for corrective open- heart surgery. After a successful surgery
Mony returned to Cambodia and had no complications.
While traveling through Kompong Thom, he saw the AHC logo on a
donation box and immediately recognized it as the big green heart
that had saved his own. Mony decided to save his money in the hopes
to someday donate back to AHC.
Then, in February 2010, Mony returned to AHC. He had an abscess
on his face, with severe swelling and an infection in his left eye.
Even though physicians in his hometown treated him, he was not getting
better. His parents decided to bring him back to AHC, once again
calling on the hospital with the big green heart.
Our eye doctor treated Mony with antibiotics and
improved quickly. He thanked all of the staff at AHC for saving
his life once again and was finally able to donate the $100 he had
been saving. Mony hopes that his donation will help save lives of
other children.
With the growth of our hospital and the help of generous volunteers,
many children with heart conditions like Monys' are now being saved.
In 2009, 24 open heart surgeries were successfully performed in
our own operating room!
Pisitmony and parents (February 2010)
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First Day At
AHC's Satellite Clinic at Sot Nikum Referral Hospital (SRH)
February was a transformational month, not only did we open our
satellite clinic, but we also began a new collaboration with the
governmental health care system. We began with a bare clinic, which
in 28 days, we furnished, equipped and stocked with medical supplies
and a pharmacy. After many meetings, both in?house and with the
SRH government staff, final preparations were made for the clinic
and the opening ceremony. The ceremony drew a crowd of over 300
people from the surrounding communities and the following day we
opened to patients.
Day one was the most important and exciting day. No one could predict
how many patients would come. By the end of the first day we had
seen nearly 100 patients and everything was running smoothly.
First patients arrived at the registration room of
the Satellite Clinic
Automatically, the hospital began operating fluidly, staff assumed
duties and patients were given the quality care they had come to
receive. It was incredible to see the process finally in action.
Due to the high number of patients, the AHC Medical Director even
stepped in and began seeing patients as well, and it became clear
that the clinic has an additional need for doctors.
Currently we have an Outpatient Department for consultations Monday
through Friday 8?4pm, and an ER for emergency treatment and stabilization
before transferring the patient to AHC for 24?hour care. Our Inpatient
Department will open in May. By the end of the first week we had
seen 507 patients. Each day expatriate donors, teachers and partners
visited the facility and everyone gave the facility much praise.
AHC Medical Director, Dr. Pheaktra examined the first
patient at Satellite Clinic
An essential part of this project is our collaboration with Sot
Nikum Referrral Hospital. Working closely with SRH and the government
health care system is a new challenge and great opportunity to not
only improve the quality of care the children receive, but also
to improve the working conditions of the government staff at AHC
Satellite Clinic at Sot Nikum.
It is necessary to engage and motivate the staff, whom are underpaid,
undervalued, and who work in a resource?poor setting with little
support. These conditions can often times be demoralizing and provide
daily challenges. The clinic run by AHC at Sot Nikum is reliant
on the co?operation of registry, pharmacy, lab and X?ray services
staff, a number of which have recently received further training
through AHC.
All government hospitals require a nominal patient registration
fee though services are free with a Health Equity Fund (HEF) card.
Patients visiting the AHC Satellite Clinic are continuing to participate
in this fee structure and it has not been a barrier for patients
to seek care. Any patient who feels that they are too poor to pay
the fee are immediately referred to the HEF office where they can
receive the HEF card if they meet criteria.
Nurses with their first patients at the Satellite
Clinic
This nominal fee will contribute to improving the government hospital,
including quality of patient care, human resources and increasing
access to trained staff. So far the government staff have cooperated
and are interested in this collaboration, but feel overwhelmed by
our numbers and an increase in their workload. This needs to be
offset by improving their work environment and pay through HEF's
revenue, enabling them to work more effectively and efficiently.
In 28 days we went from a bare building to a fully operational
clinic with two, sometimes three doctors, seeing over 100 patients
a day. Problems appear daily that require us to change and adapt
our approach, but our staff are more than willing and ready to meet
those challenges.
We would like to sincerely thank The Planet Wheeler Foundation and
Cassils – Wettstein Asia Fund for their support.
Diploma of Child Health
Program 2010
Dr. Chuop Bophal, AHC doctor, received the Certificate
of DHC from Dr. Dy Bun Chhem
The hospital is continually striving to improve the quality of
patient care. One of the ways this can be accomplished is by stressing
the importance of medical education. The Diploma of Child Health
(DCH) is a distance learning program that has been conducted at
Angkor Hospital for Children since 2006. It is provided by the Children's
Hospital at Westmead, Australia in collaboration with Sydney University,
Australia. Dr. Kathryn Currow, the Principle Executive Director
at the Children's Hospital at Westmead introduced the DCH program
to AHC. Taught in English, it is a 110 hour /37 week course starting
in February and ending in December each year.
Since starting at AHC just a few years ago, four doctors from government
hospitals and twenty two of AHC's doctors graduated from this course.
This year’s graduation ceremony was held at Angkor Hospital for
Children on 12th of February 2010. Congratulations to all the doctors
who have worked so hard and successfully completed the training
this year!
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Research study
– Dr. Sreng Kea in Singapore
Information which Dr. Kea presented after his training
Dr. Sreng Kea, a graduate of AHC’s
three-year pediatric residency program and currently an AHC outpatient
doctor, was invited to do a one?month training with the Pediatric
Hematology and Oncology Department at the National University Hospital
in Singapore during the month of February. Dr. Kea has a strong interest
in pediatric hematology and oncology and has been designated as the
lead doctor for any future initiation of chemotherapy treatments.
This training in Singapore was another step towards building AHC’s
capacity to safely treat basic childhood cancers such as leukemia.
Dr. Kea also won a scholarship to attend the St. Jude's Viva Forum
on Pediatric Oncology at the end of his training, which also took
place in Singapore. During this conference, Dr. Kea had the opportunity
not only to learn about leukemia treatments including appropriate
treatments for resource?poor settings, but he also presented his research
at the conference. We would like to thank the Australian Chamber of
Commerce in Singapore for funding Dr. Kea’s one?month training and
living expenses and the Viva Foundation for funding Dr. Kea’s airfare
and forum registration.
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Local Community Collaborations
AHC Posters displayed at Angkor Palace
Resort & Spa
To increase visibility and funding sources for AHC,
we have been looking to partner with luxury hotels in Siem Reap
in order to promote the hospital. The first generous hotel to partner
with us was Angkor Palace Resort & Spa, which offered a free
space for two months for an exhibition that portrays some of the
work and activities of AHC. The main purpose of the display was
to introduce and familiarize visitors with the work we do with the
children of Cambodia. It is also to inform and invite visitors to
come and visit our Friends Center.
Currently, we also have a three?month exhibition, which began in
February 2010, at the Borei Angkor Resort & Spa. Further information
regarding the Borei Angkor Resort & Spa is available at www.boreiangkor.com.
From the staff and the children at Angkor Hospital for Children,
we would like to express our gratitude and thanks to Angkor Palace
Resort & Spa and Borei Angkor Resort & Spa for supporting
us in this manner.
The Friends Center at Angkor Hospital for Children
Currently Exhibited "Cambodian
Moments" by David Scheinbaum
The Friends Center, the first green and environmentally
sustainable construction project in Cambodia, is where visitors
to Siem Reap can learn about the outstanding work being done at
AHC. Here, they can watch videos and gain a perspective on Cambodian
culture, history and the medical achievements and the extraordinary
story of AHC. They can view art exhibits and can browse the gift
shop, of which all proceeds go directly to AHC.
Angkor Hospital for Children is supported solely by the generous
donations of individuals and organizations that understand the importance
of AHC’s invaluable work. We play a central role in the health and
well being the children of Cambodia. By treating hundreds of children
each day, developing outreach programs and training health care
workers we have a lot to say and even more to do. We look forward
to your visit!
For more information, please contact our Public Relations Department
at ahcpr@angkorhospital.org and visit the website www.angkorhospital.org.
Upcoming Event!
South Korea: Phill Presley is one of our recent visitors to Angkor
Hospital for Children. After visiting he decided to participate the
Jeju Marathon 2010, South Korea, on the 13th of June 2010 to raise
funds to support Friends Without A Border.
Please join the run with him or donate to his race!
Please find information about the event at www.firstgiving.com/phillpresley-jejumarathon
or contact him directly at phill.presley@gmail.com.
The Angkor Hospital for Children, supported by Friends Without
A Border, provides comprehensive medical care to children in Cambodia.Any
comments, please feel free to contact AHC’s Public Relations Department
at ahcpr@angkorhospital.org. To learn more about us, please visit
our website www.angkorhospital.org 
The NEED 
