China-aided medical building to help improve Cambodia's healthcare quality

Aerial photo taken on March 19, 2022 shows the Cambodia-China Friendship Medical Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia inaugurated a China-aided modern medical building on Monday at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital in the capital Phnom Penh. [Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua]

PHNOM PENH -- Situated in the capital of Cambodia, the newly-established Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital will play an important role in improving the quality of healthcare services in the southeast Asian nation.

Built by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. under a Chinese government's grant, the 11-storey building, which includes a helipad on its roof, has 400 beds and is well equipped with high-tech medical equipment.

The building is divided into different units, including surgery, outpatient services, emergency, medical technology, hospitalization, and logistics.

"It will importantly contribute to improving the quality of healthcare services and the development of human resources for health in the country," Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng said during the inauguration ceremony of the medical building on Monday.

"It will not only be a lifesaving facility, but also a venue for training medical students and health officials," he said.

The Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital is a public hospital that provides medical services to all kinds of diseases. What is more, it is outstanding for its surgery on brain as well as bone and spinal fracture.

Tan Sokun, director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, called on people to choose the hospital for their treatment instead of seeking medical services abroad, saying that the hospital is qualified enough to deliver quality medical services and that medical fees are also cheaper than those charged by overseas hospitals.

"All pieces of medical equipment are new and modern, and our medical experts, both Cambodian and Chinese ones, are highly competent, so I'm confident that the hospital will provide high quality and effective medical services to all patients," he said.

"This is an international standard hospital, so medical services at our hospital are not different from those at overseas hospitals," Sokun said.

The medical building is the largest project in public health cooperation between Cambodia and China, and it is the fruit of cooperation under the frameworks of the comprehensive strategic partnership and the Belt and Road Initiative.

"It's a huge gift for the health sector that China has granted to Cambodia," Try Limtyty, a 29-year-old doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, told Xinhua. "This new hospital would serve people better as it is well equipped with modern medical technology."

Local residents are also elated to see a large, beautiful and modern hospital in the central part of Phnom Penh, expressing their confidence that it will provide more convenient and quality medical services to people in the capital and the rest of the country.

"This hospital is an invaluable asset of Cambodia," a 36-year-old Phnom Penh resident, Sar Srey Virak, told Xinhua.

"I believe that it will play an important role in protecting the well-being of Cambodian people, because the hospital has both Cambodian and Chinese veteran doctors as well as modern medical equipment," he said. 

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen visits the Cambodia-China Friendship Medical Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 21, 2022. Cambodia inaugurated a China-aided modern medical building on Monday at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital in the capital Phnom Penh. [Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua]

Photo taken on March 18, 2022 shows the Cambodia-China Friendship Medical Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia inaugurated a China-aided modern medical building on Monday at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital in the capital Phnom Penh. [Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua]