Helping 101 babies & counting in Cambodia’s hospitals

In our story Tuesday, the GE Developing Health Globally program formally commissioned Kossamak National Hospital — the oldest in Phnom Penh, Cambodia — which now has a range of GE-donated medical equipment up and running. Yesterday and today, two more hospitals were commissioned under the program, in which GE donates critical medical technologies and then provides training and ongoing support to help doctors make the biggest impact. As the GE employees working with the hospitals say in the audio clips below, recorded on-site in Cambodia, the work is already paying off.

Gateway to health: Kampong Speu Referral Hospital, about an hour’s drive from Phnom Penh, was formally commissioned on Wednesday. The goal of GE’s program is to improve access to quality healthcare by providing products and expertise to address critical gaps in developing-world facilities.

Thomas Ng

In the audio clip below, GE Aviation’s Thomas Ng describes his work with Kampong Speu Referral Hospital. Thomas is GE’s employee ambassador assigned from the GE Asia Pacific American Forum (APAF), which is an employee networking association whose volunteers are helping to ensure that improvements at the hospitals in the program are sustained.

Kampong Speu Referral Hospital, which has 130 beds, received equipment including delivery tables, ultrasounds, patient monitors, fetal dopplers and baby warmers. As Thomas says, in the six weeks since the donated products were installed, 101 newborn babies — and still counting — have already benefited from the improvements.

Kitty Yoh

In the audio clip below, GE Corporate Treasury’s Kitty Yoh describes her work as the APAF ambassador for Phnom Penh Municipal Referral Hospital, which was commissioned in a ceremony today. Situated in the heart of the city, it services 100-200 out-patients and about 100 in-patients each day.

Eight major pieces of equipment were donated, including an L200 Pro Ultrasound, a Dash 2500 Patient Monitor, an Anesthesia Care Station and fetal dopplers. “The ultrasound and fetal dopplers will be of particular value to this hospital as they handle a large number of deliveries throughout the year, about 240 a month,” Kitty says. “Up to now, the doctors have often had to handle their heavy caseload with second-hand machines.”

Good vibrations: The nurses above were on hand for the formal commissioning of Kampong Speu Referral Hospital. They’ll be working with GE’s ambassadors, who team with hospital staff members and the community to share business knowledge, monitor equipment usage and track community health progress. Over the next year, GE is committed to commissioning three more hospitals in Cambodia.

* Read the announcement
* Hear an audio clip from GE’s employee ambassador at Kossamak Hospital
* 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