China-aided hospital to be key life-saving facility for Cambodians

TBOUNG KHMUM, Cambodia, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Situated in the eastern province of Tboung Khmum, a huge and modern Chinese-aided public hospital, which was put into use on Monday, would serve as a key life-saving facility for locals in the eastern and northeastern regions of Cambodia.

Built by the China Railway Construction Group Co., Ltd. and funded by the Chinese government, the Tboung Khmum Cambodia-China Friendship Hospital is equipped with modern medical equipment for checkups, treatment and surgery.

Such a modern hospital had never existed in these regions previously when patients with moderate to serious conditions had to travel all the way to the capital Phnom Penh, but now it has changed. China has brought hospital close to their houses.

The five-story hospital has 300 beds and is divided into different units, including outpatient, emergency, imaging, endoscopy, laboratory and medicine, surgery, gynecologic outpatient, pediatric clinic, blood bank, pathology, hospitalization, maternity, oxygen plant, and infectious disease ward.

"Such a huge hospital had never been available in Cambodia's provinces before," Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said during the hospital's inauguration ceremony on Monday. "It is the largest modern hospital in Cambodia's provinces, except in the capital Phnom Penh."

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian believed that the hospital would serve people better as it was equipped with modern medical technologies.

"This is emblematic of the China-Cambodia friendship," he said. "I'm confident that the hospital will play an important role in protecting people's lives and well-being."

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng said that developed on the land area of 24,300 square meters, the hospital is employing more than 350 medical workers.

It will also serve as a regional hospital for people in neighboring provinces, he said.

Eng Kheang, director of the Tboung Khmum Cambodia-China Friendship Hospital, said the hospital would make medical care more convenient for people, who previously had to travel to Phnom Penh for medical treatment.

"This hospital is a landmark project in Cambodia-China cooperation in public health and it was born of close cooperation between the two countries, especially under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative," he told Xinhua.

"It's a huge gift for the health sector that China has provided to Cambodia, and this new hospital will serve people better as it is equipped with modern medical technology that has not been available in this region before," he said.

With the assistance of medical supplies and equipment, and technologies from China, he believed that people would enjoy quality medical care services, Kheang said.

Lim Pichthearasy, a 29-year-old doctor at the hospital, said China has helped build the modern hospital, provided advanced medical equipment and held training courses for health staff.

"These have greatly contributed to the development of the health sector and the reduction of poverty in Cambodia," he told Xinhua.

"The hospital will not only help improve the people's health in eastern and northeastern regions of Cambodia, but also contribute to deepening people-to-people exchanges between the two countries toward a community with a shared future," he said.

Chheang Rotha, a resident in Tboung Khmum, said he was really elated to see such a huge and modern hospital here.

Previously, when people got moderately or seriously ill, they were very concerned about their conditions because hospitals were far away from their houses, he said, adding that if they were sick at night, it was even more difficult to travel to hospitals and it was sometimes life-threatening for seriously ill patients.

"But from now on, patients with moderate to serious illness will no longer need to travel in a long distance of more than 100 km to hospitals in Phnom Penh," the 36-year-old father of two children told Xinhua.

"It is now very convenient for people in these regions and this hospital will not only rescue our people's lives, but also save them both time and money," he said.

Resident Sout Seanghay, 32, said she was grateful to China for providing a great deal of assistance to Cambodia for the development in all fields, particularly in the public health sector.

"China, your generous support will be in our heart forever," she said.