The 11-storey Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital in Phnom Penh plans to start testing services in September, while the Cambodia-China Friendship Tbong Khmum Hospital in Tbong Khmum province is scheduled to be completed in October. Both hospitals are expected to significantly improve health services in the country.

During an inspection tour of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital on June 29, Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng said that despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese side is working hard to complete the project on time.

He said the official launch could be before Chinese New Year in 2022.

“We see that this hospital is big, which is good, and next year we will use this hospital as a force for the people’s healthcare in general and for the treatment of infectious diseases in particular,” he said.

Bun Heng thanked the Chinese side for its efforts to build this hospital quickly and ahead of schedule.

The construction of the hospital began on October 30, 2018, on 28,900sqm of land at a cost of 550 million yuan ($81 million).

The hospital will be equipped with modern medical equipment and is divided into different units, including outpatient services, emergency medicine, general medicine, surgery and other support services, and a helipad on the roof.

The Cambodia-China Friendship Tbong Khmum Hospital is scheduled to be completed on October 25, according to health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine. She said the hospital will also provide great benefits for people from surrounding provinces.

“This hospital can become a technology-based treatment facility where people in Tbong Khmum, Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratanakkiri, Stung Treng and Kampong Cham provinces can be treated. We will continue to cooperate with China to increase the technical capacity of Cambodian medical staff to serve the interests of the people,” she said.

“Building a large hospital in Tbong Khmum province is a significant contribution to saving the lives of people who have been infected with Covid-19,” she said.

Construction of the Cambodia-China Friendship Tbong Khmum Hospital broke ground on March 1, 2019, with a grant from the Chinese government and is the second-largest project after the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital.

The Cambodia-China Friendship Tbong Khmum Hospital covers an area of 24,300sqm on 55,815 sqm of land with a budget of $50 million.

Vandine considered the construction of the hospitals as a reflection of the good cooperation between the two countries.