Mercy Medical Center Cambodia (MMCC) is a development based Christian outreach ministry which has a unique system in which established Referring Partners refer all of our patients. In this way we are able to avoid typical pitfalls of medical ministry for the poor; treating ongoing poverty as relief rather than development. The patients take some measure of responsibility for their care, and their referring partner is able to provide a reliable social assessment, as well as spiritual follow-up and some financial assistance.
HISTORY
MMCC was founded in the year 2000. Missionaries from several organizations felt that compassion ministry, as demonstrated by Jesus, is inseparable from the Gospel message of salvation.
Possibilities included partnerships with government and private health care centers, but each posed significant risk to MMCC’s vision and mission. We were led to a connection
with the Cambodian National Caucus of the United Methodist Church: a group of UNM churches in both the United States and Cambodia. The Churches in the US are
primarily made up of Cambodian refugees and their families who relocated during the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
In 2002 they had purchased land just outside of Phnom Penh. Their vision was to have a medical outreach ministry, and they built a small building, but they were never able to staff the clinic fully. In 2009, the land was donated, absolutely free, to MMCC. In addition to the land donation, Kirk Richter, former builder of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, among other large international projects, agreed to donate his time managing the construction of the permanent site for the MMCC ministry!
SCREENING: Cambodia has the highest rate of cervical cancer in Asia. The virus that causes this cancer is widely spread in Cambodia in part due to rampant trafficking of women. It is the number one cause of cancer related death in women under 50 years old. We have lost count of the number of young mothers who have come to MMCC with terminal cervical cancer. Yet, this cancer is almost completely preventable with proper training and screening. In developed countries, pap smears are available. But this method is difficult to provide in resource limited environments such as Cambodia. Therefore we are teaching our Cambodian doctors and nurses various methods of cervical cancer screening that are quick and cost effective, therefore available for our poor rural patients. One of these methods uses a simple vinegar solution to detect abnormalities early on.
TRAINING: We are developing a one year women’s health fellowship. Each year we have 2-3 family practice physicians graduate from the current residency program at MMCC. Interested graduates will be invited to stay an extra year for focused teaching on women’s health issues prevalent in Cambodia, including cervical cancer prevention and treatment, before they are sent out to practice as compassionate Christian physicians around the country.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION: We plan to open a women’s health care center where we can reach out to the greater community with women’s health education days, as well as invite Cambodian physicians to come for teaching on cervical cancer prevention. In addition to saving many lives and improving the physical health of Cambodian women, the Mercy Women’s Health Care Program at MMCC will give us even more opportunities to fulfill our primary mission of proclaiming the Gospel in both word and deed. Please pray for this program! Pray that this program will open up new opportunities to share the Gospel, especially with vulnerable women in Cambodia. Pray for the future Christian Cambodian physicians who will be trained and sent out by this program to love others in Jesus’ name with these new skills.
CHSC Staff Needs:
1) General Surgeon
2) Ophthalmologist
3) Anesthesia Provider
For other needs at this facility please contact us at [email protected]
Mercy Medical Center Cambodia Website
