Thursday, 15 January 2009

Cambodian gov't mulls privatizing major public hospitals

People's Daily Online
January 14, 2009

The Cambodian Ministry of Health is in talks with the managers of several state-owned hospitals about the possibility of privatizing their operations by the year end, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Wednesday.

Under the terms of the potential arrangement, the hospital buildings would remain as state property, while the hospitals themselves would be run by private companies, which would pay salaries for doctors and other staff members, said the English-language daily.

The ministry is also considering to privatize the state-owned University of Health Science, it said.

The privatization would aim at improving the quality of health services offered by these hospitals, Heng Taykry, secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, was quoted as saying.

The plan would result in price hikes at the hospitals, purchase of more medical equipment and salary rise for staff members, he added.

Cambodia has around 10 public hospitals with considerable scale, and hundreds of privately-owned polyclinic and clinics with limited conditions all over its territory.

Source:Xinhua

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