Children's Surgical Centre
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Disabilities come in many forms, but more often than not affect those in society who are the most vulnerable: children and the elderly. Disabled people in Cambodia are more numerous than in many other countries as a result of 30 years of war with the accompanying lack of normal medical care, and because so much destruction took place in the country, patients tend to be very poor and unable to afford what healthcare is otherwise available. While in developed countries the disabled are embraced ever-increasingly into society, the process may be far behind or non-existent in developing countries. Disabilities cause a tremendous amount of suffering and have the potential to destroy social integration, happiness, economic productivity, and quality of life.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Surgery and Medical Training
CSC works in the Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A rugged, highly functional, surgical unit is housed within a compound of buildings loaned by the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSAVY) and co-operates with the other rehabilitation organizations in the compound.
At CSC, patients are divided into two types: eye patients, and non-eye patients, and are segregated into 2 separate areas where they are seen by doctors working in the ophthalmology department, or the general rehabilitation department. Both departments work independently, but combine to care for patients who need the services of both. All staff are Khmer, with the exception of two full time expatriates and visiting expatriate volunteer surgeons, health workers and medical students. Expatriate volunteers provide training to local staff in order to ensure the self sustainability of the centre in the future.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of patient visits
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Surgery and Medical Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Patient outputs include the number of operations plus the number of consultations. Patients admitted for operations are not doubled counted.
Number of patient consultations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Surgery and Medical Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Patient outputs for consultations include those across all of our departments, not including follow-up visits or those admitted for operation.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The majority of physical disabilities can be improved or eliminated by relatively cheap procedures and techniques such as surgery and prosthetic devices. Unfortunately, surgical projects unjustly tend to inspire a negative reaction with donors who imagine large, expensive, non-sustainable, high tech units soaking up the limited health resources of a developing country, and performing complex operations for a limited elite. This is not the case at CSC where rehabilitative surgical procedures are cheap and sustainable and the material costs for surgery can be cost equivalent to the treatment of many infectious diseases (around US$420 per operation). The surgical techniques can be easily learned by local surgeons.
CSC aims to improve the quality of life for disabled poor people by providing free rehabilitation surgery. Integral to our mission is a program of training local surgeons and health workers, focusing on the development of sustainable health services.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
At CSC, patients are divided into three types: eye patients, ENT patients, and rehab patients. They are divided into 3 separate areas where they are seen by doctors working in the ophthalmology department, ENT department, or the general rehabilitation department. All 3 departments work independently of each other, but combine to care for patients who need the services of more than 1 type of specialist. All staff are Khmer, with the exception of any expatriate Fellow or visiting expatriate volunteer surgeons, and medical students who might be present. International surgeons and other medical professionals provide training to local staff in order to ensure the skills of the local staff are steadily expanded.
Around 4,000 surgical procedures are performed per year at CSC, completely free of charge, and this number is increasing annually with a steady infusion of new procedures.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We work hard to provide free surgery and care for our patients, as they cannot afford medical care elsewhere. We believe that they have a right to a better quality of life, that will come from their improved health. We focused our specialties on the most necessary and overlooked types of care needed right now in Cambodia. Our specialties are orthopedic surgery, maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery, ear-nose-and-throat (ENT) surgery, ophthalmic surgery, and anaesthesia. We also provide post-op care that include physiotherapy and speech therapy as well.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since CSC's founding in 1998, when we started as a small project to help victims of landmine injuries, many of whom were children. Since then, CSC has grown into what it is today: a surgical centre that provides care to more than 20,000 patients a year. The number of patients each year has been steadily increasing, which we see as a good indicator that our services are still needed.
In 2017, we gave 25,318 patients consultations, and performed 4,018 operations - completely free of charge for our patients.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Children's Surgical Centre
Board of directorsas of 8/20/2019
Dr. Mark Moser
Comprehensive Pain Management Services, Palm Beach, Florida
Dan Tagliere
MacauLand Developments Ltd.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No