This year marked LifeHealthcare’s third annual sponsorship of The Cambodia Outreach Program, following successful trips in 2020 and 2023. This years team consisted of healthcare professionals, surgeons and clinical support from across New Zealand, including Mr. Hamish Deverall and Mr. Mike Barnes (orthopaedic surgeons), Dr. Kelly Byrne (anaesthetist), Dr. Mark Grivas (anaesthetic fellow), Dr. Sarah Hunter (orthopaedic trainee), Sonya Black (surgical assistant) and Kyron Marsh (Senior Clinical Support Specialist).
The Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), a non-profit charity hospital founded in 1998 by Dr. Jim Gollogly, provides free or low-cost surgical care to underprivileged patients, focusing on children. The hospital also serves as a training centre for young Cambodian surgeons. However, there is a significant need for international expertise in spinal surgery, as Cambodia has very few orthopaedic surgeons with spine training. So, with this in mind, each year the visiting New Zealand surgical team plays a crucial role in delivering surgical treatment to patients with complex spine pathologies who would otherwise have no access to such care.
Upon arrival, the importance of the Children's Surgical Centre’s work is evident. The outdoor waiting area is filled with patients and their families, many of whom travel from rural Cambodia, often arriving barefoot. Notably one patient case involved a Cambodian mother who required a one-level decompression surgery. Previously quoted $2,000 for the procedure at other institutions, an unaffordable amount for her family earning just $3 a day, the CSC provided the surgery free of charge thanks to the visiting team.
Each day began with a clinic where patients with complex spinal pathologies were scheduled to coincide with the team's visit. The team performed ten scoliosis surgeries and several other procedures throughout the week. Supporting patients including a 13-year-old with Marfan’s syndrome, a 5-year-old girl with a 90° spinal curve, a 15-year-old female needing removal of a growing rod, and a 42-year-old post-polio patient requiring extensive revision surgery.
But it is always about making life better for others for the LifeHealthcare and surgical team, and a highlight of the trip was the follow-up of a patient from last year’s outreach, showcasing the positive outcomes of the Children's Surgical Centre’s work.
The trip would not have been possible without the support of our partner Spineart with the provision of their instrumentation. Special thanks to the wider LifeHealthcare team; Chris O’Connell, Aaron Barry, and Jesse Malloy for their efforts in planning and ensuring the availability of the necessary instruments and implants.
LifeHealthcare and Spineart’s ongoing sponsorship of The Cambodia Outreach Program has directly contributed to transforming the lives of patients treated with modern, instruments and implants.
More details are available for our Healthcare professional colleagues, if you have any interest in hearing more about the cases, which includes an overview of each surgery performed, along with pre- and post-operative imaging please reach out to our colleagues tagged above.
