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The
Story
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Dr.
Beat Beatocello Richner
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- Beat
Richner was born in Zurich on March 13, 1947.
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- After
receiving his medical degree in 1973 he specialised in
paediatrics at the Zurich Children's Hospital. In
1974/75 he was sent to Cambodia by the Swiss
Red Cross (SRC) to work at the Kantha Bopha Children's
Hospital. His mission came to an abrupt end when the
Khmer Rouge invaded the country. Dr. Richner was
forced to return to Switzerland, where he took up his
former position at the Zurich Children's Hospital. In
1980 he opened his own practice in Zurich, which he
shared with a fellow practitioner.
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- Whilst
pursuing his medical career, Beat Richner developed in
1972 the character of BEATOCELLO, an artistic
role which he would slip into from time to time and
which might best be described as that of a poetic and
musical comedian or clown. He has given countless
performances, mostly in the German-speaking part of
Switzerland, but also abroad. Beat Richner has also
published a number of books with simple line-drawings
-mostly children's books- to accompany his
performances and his musical poetic
stories.
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 - 1975 in Phnom Penh working
for the Red Cross Intl.
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Beatocello
at the Paradeplatz Zurich, 1978
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- Kantha
Bopha I, the first hospial
- In
December 1991 Dr. Richner was asked by the
Cambodian government to rebuild and manage the Kantha
Bopha Children's Hospital, which had been destroyed
during the war; once again, his life took a sudden
turn, he accepted the job. In March 1992 he created a
foundation in Zurich, moved to Phnom Penh and began
with the actual reconstruction work. On 2 November
1992 Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital was back in
operation. Over the following years the hospital was
progressively extended and modified to meet the most
urgent needs of its patients.
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- Inauguration
Kantha Bopha 1
- September
22nd,1992
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 - J.
P. Delamuraz, King Norodom Sihanouk
- at the
inauguratsion of Kantha Bopha 2, 1996
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- Kantha
Bopha II, the second hospial
- 1995 the
hospital Kantha Bopha I became overcrowded, with more
than 1,000 outpatients every day and over 350
hospitalisations. King Norodom Sihanouk offered land
at his Royal Palace in Phnom Penh to build a new
hospital. On
12 October 1996 the second Children's Hospital was
inaugurated in the presence of King Norodom Sihanouk
and Jean-Pascal
Delamuraz,
president
of the Federal Council of Switzerland.
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- Jayavarman
VII, the third hospital
- On
March 9th 1998 land was donated by Hun Sen,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, on the
initiative of H.E. Cham Prasidh, Minister of Commerce,
to build a third children's hospital in Siemreap near
the temple of Angkor. Dr. Beat Richner's third
children's hospital opened on March 31, 1999 as
an annex of Kantha Bopha I&II. As in these
hospitals, all treatment is free of charge for every
child. It has a large prevention and health education
center, a large outpatient station and extensive
facilities four inpatient care and the proper treament
of very sick children whose lives are in danger. The
design of the new hospital is the result of the seven
year's runing experience of Kantha Bopha Children's
Hospital in Phnom Penh. It could serve as a global
model of how to build and organize a hospital facing
similar conditions.
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 - Hospital
Jayavarman VII, 1999
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- Maternity
ward for HIV positive mothers
- At the inauguration
of the Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital in Siem
Reap, Samdech Hun Sen, prime minister of the Kingdom
of Cambodia, announced in the presence of King Norodom
Sihanouk that the government would give additional
land for the hospital (more--->)
Thanks to a number of several specific private
donations, Beat Richner was able to build and complete
a maternity ward for HIV positive mothers adjacent to
the Jayavarman VII hospital in Siem Reap
Ankor.
The
inauguration took place on October 9,
2001.
In March
2005 an extension
to the
Jayavarman VII was opened providing 350 additional
beds.
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- Kantha
Bopha IV
- By
2004 the
Kantha Bopha I hospital in Phnom Penh had become too
small and two of its three buildings were in a very
bad and dangerous condition. Without a new building,
Kantha Bopha I could not function any longer. The
construction of a new hospital started on 3 August
2004 after having bought some land adjacent to the Wat
Phnom. The new Kantha
Bopha IV children's
hospital was inaugurated on December 29,
2005.
- One of three Kantha
Bopha I's buildings continued to be used and the
others were evacuated and later restored. Kantha Bopha
IV is connected with the old Kantha Bopha
I.
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- The hospital has
555 beds, 4 surgical operating rooms, two intensive
care units, a fully equipped laboratory with a blood
bank, an imaging department (X Ray, 4 Ultrasounds and
a CT Scanner) a large pharmacy, an outpatient station
and a prevention center. The total costs of built
this Hospital was 15 million USD. Beat Rcihner
asked the Swiss people to contribute by donating a
twenty-franc note each (Aktion Zwaenzger Noetli 2004).
This campaign collected enough money to action enough
money to finalise this undertaking. The campaign who
was supported by schoolchildren and people all over
Switzerland.
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- Kantha
Bopha V, The latest hospital in Phnom Penh
(2007).
- Soon after the
inauguration of Kantha Bopha IV, the hospital became
overcrowded and in 2006 the amount of hospitalized
patients in Phnom Penh had increased by 50%. We
decided to build Kantha Bopha V, which was inaugurated
on 28 december 2007 in thr presence of
his Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni together with
Samdech Hun Sen and high ranking members of the royal
government of Cambodia. The new Kantha Bopha V has a
prevention station, x-ray, fluoroscopy, ultrasound,
laboratories and 9 units with 34 bed (About 300 beds
in total). in addition to this we have a conference
room and a medical library. The costs were 9 million
USD.
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 - Kantha Bopha IV,
2004
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- December
30th, 2008
- An
extension at the Jayavarman VII hospital in Siem Reap
was inauguratd by Dr. Beat Richner in the presence of
King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Samdech Hun
Sen. The extension is already in use.
- Specifications:
- It
has 200 beds, a laboratory, a pharmacy and a radiology
department. (Foto tight side)
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 - "Kolnidrey"
at the Mekong in 1996
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- Kantha
Bopha has become a highly respected model for the
entire Southeast Asian region. It shows how efficient
direct medical and humanitarian aid -i.e. correct
medication unhampered by corruption, combined with
targeted long-term training - can be in curative and
preventive medicine as well as in research. Most of
the funding comes from private individuals in
Switzerland who make spontaneous donations for Kantha
Bopha, very often straight after one of BEATOCELLO's
performances.
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 1996
in Kantha Bopha 2
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- Over
the last 20 years
- the
Kantha Bopha hospitals have treated
- 10.4
Million outpatients
&
1.13 Million seriously ill children requiring
hospitalisation.
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