Children’s Surgical Centre

If the child of a rice farmer or garment worker living on $2 a day needs surgery, which costs upwards of $100 at a government hospital, the family must spend all their savings and incur debt from neighbors to pay for the care. Occasionally, the challenge can be met. But oftentimes, the family can not manage this and are faced with closed doors and years of untreated and worsening conditions.

 

It is usually then, after a family has exhausted their savings elsewhere on unsuccessful treatments, or have never dreamt of seeking modern medical care, that they arrive on our doorstep for a consultation.

 

We are Children’s Surgical Centre, a hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with a team of 123 surgeons, nurses, speech therapists, anesthetists, physiotherapists, cooks, cleaners, patient information officers, pharmacists, and administrators.

 

In 2015 our Cambodian medical staff provided 20,652 medical consultations and performed 4,232 surgeries, the kind of care our patients would be denied elsewhere for their inability to pay.

 

From the 1970s through 1990s, decades of war, poverty, and genocide decimated the Cambodian health care system, which still lags far behind neighboring countries. CSC was established in 1998 by British-American surgeon Dr. Jim Gollogly, originally to address the thousands of landmine victims and people living with disabilities throughout the country. Since 1998, CSC’s reach and range have expanded to accommodate the changing needs of Cambodia’s poor.

 

Today, on our eight operating tables, we treat babies with cleft lips, teenagers with chronic ear infections, and seniors with glaucoma. Fractures and dislocations caused by motorcycle accidents are quite common now in Cambodia, and in many cases the patient’s fracture has worsened or become infected from negligence or poor care at another facility by the time they arrive at CSC. We treat victims of acid attacks, snake bites, serious burns, and those born with congenital deformities like clubfoot. We fix broken arms and replace hips, remove extra fingers and separate conjoined ones. We treat rare and deadly birth defects like meningoencephalocele (MEC) that are unique to the poorest areas of Southeast Asia. 

 

And we train. Skilled surgeons from around the world volunteer their time to CSC every year to teach our staff on-site how to do operations not covered in Cambodian medical school, or even offered elsewhere in Cambodia. With the support of outside sponsors, we send our staff overseas to attend conferences and participate in training programs.

 

Training is critical to CSC's mission. More so than new buildings or fancy equipment, developing the skills of Cambodian medical staff has the most sustainable impact on the improvement of healthcare in Cambodia. When we advance our staff capabilities, we not only expand the range of care available at CSC, but in all of Cambodia.

 

Want to learn more? Email us!

 

BBC Documentary: Cambodia Surgical Ward

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How Surgery Can Fight Global Poverty - The New York Times

 

 

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