Battambang: A heavy blaze caused the firemen some problems on January 7, 2018, at 11:30 pm, when a fire broke out at the very small Roka Referral Hospital located in Roka Village, Roka Commune, Sangke District, Battambang Province.

Three fire engines were called to the scene, and eventually the fire was mastered. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the resulting material damage is estimated at $50-60,000.

Authorities believe that the fire was caused by an electrical fault, probably from a short-circuit of the drug and vaccine refrigerated storage unit.

The fire occurred at Roka commune, Battambang, where the infamous HIV contamination scandal, caused by a local quack, took place in 2014.

Roka health centre burns
9 January 2018
A health centre in Battambang province’s Roka commune, where a massive HIV outbreak occurred three years ago, caught fire on Sunday night, resulting in about $60,000 in damages.
Roka commune chief Sim Pov claimed the fire was caused by an electrical failure and said no one had been injured.

“All materials including medicines were burned but nobody died,” she said, referring to the fire, which occurred in one of the health centre’s two buildings.
By Beng Sor, the heath centre’s director, said HIV medicine had not been affected by the blaze, but other medicines and materials were completely destroyed.“Vaccination medicine for HIV patients was not affected because it is kept in another building,” he said.

He added that the fire burned about 80 percent of the centre’s old building, completely destroying materials such as computers, printers and some medicine. Mr Beng Sor said the preliminary cost of damage was about $60,000.

Nearly 300 residents of two villages in Roka commune tested positive for HIV in November and December 2014 and January 2015.
An investigation into the outbreak found that unlicensed medical practitioner Yem Chrin, who had been practising medicine in Roka village since the early 1990s, was to blame...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50100772/ro ... tre-burns/

HIV patients' records destroyed in fire

- Records for one out of every three HIV patients were lost this month when a fire destroyed computers at Battambang province’s Roka referral hospital, which is located in an area hit by one of Cambodia's worst HIV outbreaks in recent memory.

Eng Samnang, director of the Roka referral hospital, said that on January 7, one building at the hospital housing equipment and vaccinations was destroyed by a fire caused by an electric malfunction.

Samnang said no HIV medication was lost during the fire, but some patients’ records were lost when the computers were consumed. The records consist of the patients’ identities, home addresses, medication, medical history and patient progress. According to Samnang there are currently 266 patients in Roka commune.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/p ... v-outbreak

UPDATE
April 23, 2023
Hospital destroyed by flames rebuilt, thanks to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

On Jan. 9, 2018, the then-newly renovated Roka Referral Hospital in Cambodia went up in flames.
The blaze caused significant damage to the hospital, destroying a building, laboratory equipment, hospital records and vaccines.

Restoring a hospital
On Feb. 10, 2023, more than 100 members of a small rural community in the Sangkae district, Battambang province, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Roka Referral Hospital.

The main hospital building has received a variety of renovations, including adding a pharmacy, administrative building, emergency room with a wheelchair ramp, ultrasound machine, oxygen delivery system, bathroom facilities and an electric current stabilizer to help protect the new equipment.

The restoration project was part of the Church’s Cambodia Health Improvement Effort, which was initiated in 2018 by the Asia Area presidency to help improve health care by partnering with government and local health care leaders and to help with training, equipment and construction projects, the Church’s Cambodia Newsroom reports.

Hospital doctors said the ultrasound machine will help save the lives of mothers and babies, while the new laboratory equipment means they can now diagnose diseases and diabetes.

The hospital serves two districts with a combined population of 196,644 people living in 10 communes and 64 villages. It’s located about 10 kilometers, or about 6.2 miles, east of Battambang.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501277694/ ... to-church/