A motorist passes by Chak Angre Health Centre in the capital’s Meanchey district. Heng Chivoan
The Ministry of Health expanded its capacity and made it easier for people to get healthcare services between 2018 and 2022, with the numbers of health centres increasing from 1,205 to 1,288 and hospitals from 123 to 132.
Health minister Mam Bun Heng noted the achievements at the ministry’s annual meeting on March 7.
“We and the Cambodian people are proud to have Techo Santepheap National Hospital with 10,000 beds and Luang Mer Hospital for cancer treatment, on the initiative of Prime Minister Hun Sen,” he added.
He continued that in the past five years, the ministry has enhanced the quality of work management and health services continuously. The ministry have monitored and evaluated mechanisms that focus on structural and technical qualities and health outcomes.
He also said that clinical quality needs to be further improved to meet population expectations. The ministry has established 102 standard health centres and 365 standard hospitals. They will be the foundation for the development and launch of the health service accreditation system in the coming years.
Bun Heng said the number of health officials nationwide in 2018 was 25,438 – including 13,393 women. In 2022, there were 32,240 health officials, 17,079 of them women. The number of health officials at the provincial level increased from 19,710 in 2018 to 25,175 in 2022.
At a separate March 7 press conference on the achievements of Pursat province in the past five years, provincial governor Khoy Rida said Pursat has four operational district health offices, four referral hospitals and 47 health centres, a health post and two prison health posts.
He said the province has 390 private clinics providing people with health services as well. From 2018 to 2022, the province provided 1,495,894 people with consultation services at the provincial referral hospitals. Patients who were admitted to the hospital spent an average of five days in treatment.
He noted that the province is facing hospital shortages as they have received a large number of patients beyond their capacity. Sometimes, he said, they could not find space to treat them all so the province has mobilised donors to build an eight-storey emergency medical building on the compound of the provincial referral hospital.
He said the building was built from the generous hearts of the Cambodian people as a contribution to a reduction in poverty and alleviating the suffering of the general population in Pursat as well as outside the province.
“No one wants to be hospitalised, but no one can escape eventually, including me. We think there must be a hospital ready to meet the current needs. This is the common good for the future, maybe in 2023 we will start to lay the foundation,” the governor said.
He added that with the financial support of the Korea Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH) and many other sources, a maternity and infant care facility on the compound of the referral hospital was also built and two quarantine centres in Kandieng and Veal Veng districts were built during the pandemic.
