Angkor Hospital for Children was founded on the belief that every child has the right to a healthy life. Since we first opened our doors in 1999, we have provided more than 1.5 million treatments to Cambodia’s poorest children and their families, have been officially recognized as one of Cambodia’s few paediatric teaching hospitals and have created wide-reaching community outreach programmes.

Mission 
To improve healthcare for all Cambodian children.

Vision 
All Cambodian children have access to high quality, compassionate care wherever they live and whatever their ability to pay.

Our Values 
Puzzle Compassion: We are sensitive to the needs of others, we listen deeply to others’ feelings and concerns and treat others as we would like ourselves and our family to be treated.

Quality care: We offer the best possible compassionate care available, with a commitment to consistently review and improve to create the best possible patient outcome.

Expertise: We ensure that we have the best knowledge and technical skills possible and we share these with others.

Integrity: We are honest, open and take responsibility for our actions in all aspects of our work Our 19 interconnected departments work together to provide the best treatment, education and prevention programs possible so that we can improve all aspects of healthcare for children aged birth-16 in Cambodia.

Our Story

Friends Without A Border 

It started with a photograph.

Renowned Japanese photographer Kenro Izu first visited Cambodia in 1993 to photograph the magnificent Angkor Temples. Cambodia was struggling to emerge from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and Kenro was deeply touched by the resilient children he met during his trip. Kenro realized he could not leave Cambodia without doing something for these impoverished children he had seen and captured from behind the lens. He founded a non-profit organization called Friends Without a Border (FWAB) and with the help of the international art community, health care professionals and more than 6,000 supporters from around the world, Angkor Hospital for Children opened its gates in 1999. Kenro founded Angkor Hospital for Children on the principle of building a hospital for Cambodian children, run by Cambodians. Today, 98% of Angkor Hospital for Children 500+ staff are Cambodian. Our medical team is made up of 70 doctors, 200 nursing staff and 100 other medical staff members. Our non-medical staff, including Development, Management and Logistics, has 137 employees and 130 support staff members.

---

Focus on Quality 

With a core focus on quality, compassionate healthcare Angkor Hospital for Children’s staff has worked tirelessly to become the trusted facility it is today. Over the years Angkor Hospital for Children has gradually expanded and improved its facilities, but we have never lost sight of our ultimate goal—to improve healthcare for all Cambodian children by creating a sustainable, replicable model of a healthcare institution that provides high quality, compassionate care. Angkor Hospital for Children works closely with the Ministry of Health to establish and implement ethical guidelines and best treatment practices for paediatric care in government health facilities; we train and provide on-the-job coaching to government health workers; and we work closely with non-governmental organisations around the country to ensure that children have access to a continuum of high quality care. Angkor Hospital for Children serves as a training site for the World Health Organization’s Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses Program.

From opening an Operating Theatre in 2002, to beginning our heart surgery program in 2008;from establishing the Satellite Clinic in 2010 to the completion of an expansion of the Emergency Room/Intensive Care Unit in 2015, the driving ideology behind each of Angkor Hospital for Children decisions has been and continues to be the provision of high quality treatment, education and prevention services.

---

 Independent Non-Profit Organisation 

As of 2013, Angkor Hospital for Children transitioned to become an independent non-profit organisation in Cambodia. The hospital has since been incorporated in the USA, registered as a charity in Hong Kong and the UK.

Treatment, Education, Prevention.

Many of the 170,000 treatments provided each year at Angkor Hospital for Children are for preventable illnesses. Poverty is a root cause of a majority of the most commonly seen illnesses at Angkor Hospital for Children: lack of clean drinking water, malnutrition and low prevalence of good sanitation and hygiene practices all contribute to preventable child illness and death. 1 out of every 29 children born in Cambodia will die before his or her fifth birthday–one of the highest child mortality rates in the region.

During the Khmer Rouge regime from 1974-1979, an estimated 1.5 million Cambodians were killed, and the educated classes were target. As a result, there were only 50 medical doctors in Cambodia in 1979, most of whom fled as soon as possible.  The healthcare system collapsed; healthcare facilities were decimated and self-sufficiency (including healthcare) became a way of life. Angkor Hospital for Children is playing a part in the system’s recovery by providing healthcare education to students, graduates, medical staff (AHC and government employees) and conducting outreach programs in schools and orphanages. AHC is also working with communities so community stakeholders and families have a better understanding of basic healthcare.

Treatment Needs

In 1998 there was no children’s hospital in Siem Reap: Angkor Hospital for Children was the first to provide specialised paediatric care services and facilities with trained staff and suitable equipment.

Community healthcare centres and hospitals are often sparsely staffed and equipped so Cambodian families are naturally skeptical and cautious of using their limited funds to access these healthcare facilities:  Angkor Hospital for Children is open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and has developed a strong reputation for treating every child like they would treat their own regardless of their ability to pay.

Private facilities and pharmacies are unregistered or unregulated, often providing counterfeit or inappropriate medications: Angkor Hospital for Children is able to provide on-site lab services to ensure each child’s treatment plan is appropriate and is dispensed with high quality, controlled medications.

Prevention Needs

Families are not seeking treatment early enough and children are dying due to financial barriers: Angkor Hospital for Children’s services are provided regardless of the families’ ability to pay and also reimburses roundtrip travel costs for those who need it. We also provide food and cooking facilities (and nutritious cooking lessons!) as well as a safe place
to sleep for families who do not have anywhere else to go during their child’s treatment.

Traditional models of healthcare treat medical issues but rarely the whole child’s needs: Angkor Hospital for Children Social Work department is the first of its kind, offering in-hospital and at-home counselling to children and families at risk of abandonment, institutionalisation, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or dealing with the emotional toll of HIV/AIDS.

---

Education Needs

University nursing and medical curricula does not include paediatric speciality training: Angkor Hospital for Children hosts around 400 nursing students and 40 medical residents each year, ensuring that the next generation of medical providers are equipped with knowledge and experience of high quality paediatric healthcare practices.

Government healthcare workers have limited access to training opportunities:Angkor Hospital for Children provides training and on-the-job coaching for community-based health centre nursing staff and hospital doctors in basic and advanced paediatric life-saving skills.

Families lack basic knowledge of hygiene and healthcare: Angkor Hospital for Children works with community stakeholders to conduct information and education sessions on hand-washing, dental care, safe drinking water and rehydration, among others.

Get In Touch for Supports

Street address:
Tep Vong (Achamean) Road & Oum Chhay Street, Svay Dangkum, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Google map

Postal address:
P.O. Box 50, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Visitor Center opening hours:
Mon–Sun: 08:00am – 06:00pm

Tel: +855 (0) 63 963 409
Fax: +855 (0) 63 760 452
Email: ahc@angkorhospital.org

Find out more about supporting and volunteering at the hospital.