Mongkol Borei Referral Hospital

Mongkol Borei Referral is the main provincial hospital serving Banteay Meanchey Province in the North West of Cambodia. The Hospital has been in existence since circa 1950’s, and has seen a lot of action over the years, through the Khmer Rouge era and then the civil war in the 1980’s. A new hospital was donated by the People of Japan, and was opened as recently as May 2007. The benefits the new hospital brings are numerous: modern surgical and operating facilities, emergency care and modern facilities for maternity care. The Hospital is quality assessed annually and achieves a level three (highest level for a referral hospital in Cambodia). The Hospital Director is Dr. Sereywichouk, who manages the hospital as well as being a surgeon! Dr. Sereywichouk demonstrates amazing leadership skills: vision and direction, has the complete respect and loyalty of his staff, and is able to make major strides in quality improvement in health care despite the lack of infrastructure and public funding. One of the major challenges facing Mongkol Borei Referral Hospital is the ongoing maintenance of the new hospital and equipment, especially when the guarantee expires in March 2008. There is a high risk that when equipment failure occurs, the hospital will not be able to afford to either fix or replace it. This is an area I am currently working on with the lead Deputy Director and the Director alongside the ongoing quality improvement assessment closely linked via a health insurance type system for poorer people to income generation for the hospital.