meet the people > staff
 Name:
William Houseworth (a.k.a. Bill)
Position: Executive Director
Career History: Bill is board certified in internal medicine
and pediatrics. In 2006, he received a Masters in Public Health from
Harvard University focusing on International Health with certification
in Humanitarian studies. Most recently Bill was the Assistant Regional
Director of Kentuckiana Emergency Physicians. Bill has served as a
medical officer in Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Mozambique, Sudan and in Cambodia
in the past. His experience has given him a unique perspective on
healthcare issues in the developing world.
Family Life: Bill is married with 2 daughters and a son. He
and his family moved to Siem Reap in February 2008.
Why were you drawn to AHC? Two words come to mind, quality
and compassion. AHC proves that quality evidence based medicine and
development can effectively be practiced in a resource poor setting.
AHC also proves that compassion is a great and valuable resource.
Together, these things help make me excited for a hope and a future
for Cambodia and its children.
 Name:
David Shoemaker
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Medical Education Director, Deputy Director of AHC
Responsibilities: David's responsibilities are to assist the Cambodian
staff with coordinating education programs held in the Medical Education
Center. David is also responsible for liaising with international donors
regarding short and long-term funding projects.
Career History: David graduated Nursing school in Canada then shortly
afterwards moved to a warmer climate (Hawaii) for several years. He then
moved to work in the Marshall Islands for two years before arriving in
Cambodia in early 2000. His roles here have changed from UN Volunteer
to Director of Nursing to acting Executive Director to the role he is
in now.
What is your most memorable experience at AHC?: Seeing a kid die
in the ER one evening because his parents had spent all day trying to
borrow $1 to pay for transportation to get to the hospital.
How do you envision AHC in 10 yrs?: Right now, AHC is very unique
in Cambodia. It has a strong reputation for delivering quality healthcare
to tens of thousands of children each year and has also recently been
recognized as an official Teaching Hospital by the Ministry of Health.
 Name:
Long Sedtha
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Administrative Director and Advisor to the Capacity
Building and Education Program
Career History:
Sedtha graduated from Bangkok University in 1992 and joined AHC in 1999.
Prior to joining AHC he worked with various education programs and was
a school teacher.
Family Life: He is married and has a large family with eleven
children, four of his own and seven adopted.
Hope for the future: Sedtha hopes AHC will have the chance to
expand its capacity to train government facilities in the standards
of quality paediatric care. He hopes the government will truly recognize
that AHC is the model hospital in quality standards and continue to
send government trainees to the hospital. He feels hope that one day
quality health care will extend to all the children in Cambodia and
not just in Siem Reap.
 Name:
Kazumi Akao
Nationality: Japanese
Position: Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS Program
Responsibilities: Manages the program; grant writing.
Career History: Nursing license from Japan and the
USA. Began teaching nursing at AHC in 1999, then began the Home Care
Program and became the HIV counselor.
What is the most rewarding experience of working at AHC?
Kazumi thinks that every day at AHC is rewarding. There is one special
story about her work at AHC that she will never forget. It is that of
a 4 day journey by bicycle in the rainy season of a family from the
countryside in Battambang who brought their adopted child to AHC for
care. The staff was so concerned and moved by this family that they
collected money to donate to them for their future. The child's mother
felt that this child was a blessing in her life and that she would always
show such great love no matter what the difficulty.
What impact does AHC had in the community? AHC has
a wide impact in the community because of its outreach programs that
try to truly understand the needs of the people in their own environment.
Name: Welabada, Geetha Priya
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Position: Paediatric & dental nurse. Dental Project
Advisor & Manager
Languages: Khmer, English, Hindi, Tamil, Singhalese
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC?:
Watching the knowledge and experience she passed on to the very first
group of nurses she trained evolve throughout the years to become the
head nurses and in AHC.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? Through
her interactions with non-hospital personnel, "Those people who take
their children to AHC get far more than the standard medication. They
all leave with something, whether it be knowledge or an altered perception
of hospitals, that will change their lives."
Name: Sem Chenda
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Chief Anaesthetist
Responsibilities:
Patient Anaesthesia
Teaching students and staff
Supervising patient care in operating theatre, recovery, and emergency
room.
Languages: Khmer, English, Chinese, some Japanese and
French.
Why were you drawn to AHC? He joined AHC because he
wished to improve his knowledge of medicine with the strong emphasis
on opportunities for continued training at AHC.
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC?
He enjoys the regular interactions with a diverse group of medical volunteers
who are eager to work with and share their knowledge with the nurses
at AHC.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? AHC
has the best nursing program in Cambodia, as it emphasizes high-quality
care and many medical opportunities for the nurses. The high standard
of training is recognized by the government as they send physicians
employed by provincial hospitals to AHC for continued training.
Name: Hor Putchhat
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Head Lab Technician
Responsibilities:
Lab Supervisor
Blood Bank
Why were you drawn to AHC? He recognized the hospital
offered an unparalleled opportunity to improve his English and laboratory
skills because of both the high standard of care and the prospect of
working with foreign medical personnel. AHC has the reputation of being
an institute that upholds a high standard for medical care and modern
equipment with an honest management.
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC? When he
first entered the hospital most of the equipment was extremely rudimentary,
but with the help of donors he has watched the lab evolve into a highly
modern facility. This quick development makes him happy because it reflects
the hospital’s constant state of progress.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? When
he travels to the countryside and speaks to people who have been patients
at AHC they all share a very positive view of the hospital. In addition
to the high medical standards, he attributes this positive impression
to the tender and unbiased care provided by all the employees and volunteers.
 Name:
Thourk Boproek
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Pharmacy Manager
Responsibilities: Despenses medication; maintains
inventory; requests pricing for and orders medicine.
Career History: Worked at the Operational District
Government Hospital before coming to AHC.
Name: Sinketh Arun
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Director of Public Relations
Responsibilities: As the Director of Public Relations, Arun is
responsible for developing communications and relationships with the local,
national and international communities, and for developing funding sources
for AHC. She is also responsible for organizing and serving as the AHC
representative at fundraising events for AHC in Cambodia.
Why were you drawn to AHC? Arun enjoys the constant interactions
with the children, and even though outside the realm of her current job
description, she sometimes sneaks out of the office during breaks to visit
the young patients.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? The hospital
has an extremely positive affect on Cambodia as it not only provides much-needed
high quality medical care, but unparalleled educational opportunities
for everyone involved: volunteers, doctors and patients.
Name: Sun Sopheary
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Volunteer Coordinator and IT
Responsibilities: Managing volunteer program; Network Administrator
Patient Information System Database administrator
 Name:
Samneang Reachsey
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Logistic Manager
Responsibilities: To make sure donated and purchased supplies
flow in and out
correctly. Store, maintain and distribute medical supply inventory.
Why were you drawn to
AHC? He wants to help poor Khmer people. It makes him proud
to be able to serve
all Cambodians, particularly children. He believes children should have
more opportunities for education.
 Name:
Eum Narey
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Librarian
Responsibilities: Prepares the library and classrooms
for lectures and presentations; organizes the library and helps internet
users.
Career History: Being the AHC librarian is Narey's
first job. He began in 2006 and AHC sent him to Center Hope for training
in Library Science.
What is the most rewarding experience at AHC? Narey
loves working at AHC. He admires the organization, loves to work with
children and enjoys contact with foreigners. He feels that he has learned
a lot in just a short time.
 Name:
Vanna Dary
Nationality: Khmer, Kampng Cham
Position: Executive Secretary to the Director
Responsibilities: Schedules appointments; coordinates
and attends meetings; coordinates schedules.
Career History: Began work at AHC as nurse in 2001 and was promoted
to Executive Secretary in 2006.
Most rewarding experience working at AHC: Dary believes that AHC
is like a family - everyone works together as a team. Dary is excited
by her new position because in this job she has more opportunities to
interact with people, learn more about management and to help support
AHC.
 Name:
Chay Sokry
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Personal Assistant to the Medical Director
Responsibilities: Assist the Medical Director; translate
for foreign doctors
Past Experience: Began work at AHC in 2002 as staff
nurse with a focus on breast feeding counseling. She was promoted to
her current position in 2007.
How does she view AHC? Sokry feels that AHC is an
official training center for both medical and non-medical staff. She
thinks the hospital is an excellent place for education and it provides
opportunities to interact with foreigners, as well as a chance to travel
abroad for further training.
Name: Visal Maray (a.k.a.
Mom)
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Administrative Secretary
Responsibilities: Administration
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC? She enjoys interacting with the eager and diverse volunteers at the hospital.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? AHC
provides good employment opportunities for the Khmer community. In addition,
she recognizes and supports the effort and positive effect of the hospital
on the Khmer children and community.
 Name:
Phom Da (aka Srey Da)
Nationality: Khmer
Position: Manager of Housekeeping
Family Life: Born and raised in Siem Reap, she is married
and is raising 5 children. She has 2 girls and 2 boys of her own, and
has adopted an orphaned nephew.
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC?
Of course, one of the benefits is that she gets to meet many people
from around the world. She is very happy to be able to do work that
helps Cambodian children. What she appreciates about AHC is that everyone
realizes that housekeeping is very important. She believes that she
is able to do a good job because everyone in the hospital believes in
teamwork and supports her department in keeping the hospital as clean
as possible.
What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? She
used to think that cleaning was only on the surface. As long as it
looked nice, I was doing a good job. Since working at AHC, I learned
that hygiene is deeper than the surface. She wants to continue to learn
more about hygiene and share this with her family, friends and her community.
Name: Phan Va
Nationality: Khmer
Position:
Maintenance Supervisor
Responsibilities:
Repairs medical equipment
Provides mechanical support for volunteers
What has been the most rewarding experience at AHC? He
has gained experience from the volunteers' knowledge both in mechanics
and English. What is the impact of AHC on the Khmer people? He believes
the Khmer people recognize the high medical standard at AHC and also appreciate
the strong emphasis on continued education available.
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MEET THE PEOPLE