GE commissions first hospitals in Cambodia
The GE Developing Health Globally program is formally commissioning three hospitals in the Phnom Penh area of Cambodia this week, beginning with today’s kick-off at Kossamak National Hospital — the oldest in Phnom Penh. For each hospital, GE donated critical medical equipment, such as ultrasounds, mobile X-rays and vital signs monitors. Now, the installations and training are complete and patients are already being treated with the new equipment.
Bench strength: These nurses at Kossamak National Hospital are waiting for Cambodia’s Minister of Health to arrive at today’s formal commissioning ceremony. “This program reflects GE’s support for access to quality healthcare for vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia,” said Bob Corcoran, vice president of corporate citizenship at GE, who was at the event.
Katy Choo
Each site will also have a GE employee ambassador assigned from the GE Asia Pacific American Forum, an employee networking association, to ensure that improvements are sustained. They’ll work with Cambodia’s Ministry of Health and hospital staff to track progress and share best practices. “It’s been truly an amazing day, “ says GE’s Katy Choo, the ambassador for Kossamak, in the audio clip below. “We can really see how this equipment is making a difference.”
The Developing Health Globally corporate citizenship program is aimed at improving access to quality healthcare by providing products and expertise to address critical gaps in developing-world healthcare facilities. It directly impacts 4.8 million people globally through its $40 million commitment in 14 countries throughout Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. In addition, the GE Foundation has made $8 million in grants to support girls’ education, equipment training and skill-building for health workers in many of these areas. The program offers solutions using products form GE’s Water, Energy, Healthcare and Consumer and Industrial businesses.
Filling the gaps: Kossamak Hospital, above, is the first of six hospitals in the program to be commissioned. Kampong Speu Referral Hospital and Phnom Penh Municipal Referral Hospital will be commissioned tomorrow and Thursday, respectively. Over the next year, GE is committed to commissioning three more hospitals in Cambodia.
* Read today’s announcement
* Read GE’s previous announcement about expanding its efforts in Cambodia
* Read “Making rural healthcare exponentially more effective” on GE Reports
* Learn more about GE’s Developing Health Globally program
* Watch a video series on our work with IMC in Chad
* Read “Hey baby! GE donates $8M for UK maternal hospital” on GE Reports
* Read about our healthymagination work in Bangladesh
* Learn more about the partnership with Grameen Healthcare Trust
* Read “Helping the docs at the nation’s largest free clinic”
* Learn about GE’s healthymagination strategy on cost, quality and access
* Read about GE’s work with clinics in India
I am very happy to know that this event is happening, I wish maybe someday, I can help in some way, I can speak Vietnamese,Chinese Cantoneses and Madarin well.
Please keep up the good work.
Best Regards,
Chan
Read your very interesting article on partnering with hospitals in Cambodia forwarded to us by Dr. Peter Choo, Katy Choo’s brother who is a colleage and friend of mine. Coincedently my wife and I are leaving Oct 21st for our 8th visit to Cambodia to celebrate the one millionth free patient consultation at the Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE in Phnom Penh. We would be most interested to see if a partnership could develop between GE and the hospital. It is located on the grounds of the Municipal referral hospital and is both a medical dellivery and training center for over 1,000 health care professionals in its 13 years of operation.Best wishes on GE’s noble endeavor!