KRCH was a non-profit hospital, owned by the Foundation of the Church of Christ in Thailand (a national nondenominational grouping of protestant churches), and funded by a mix of patient fees and donations from organisations and individuals.
The Hospital Director was Dr Witoon Yongmethawut, and the Assistant Hospital Director and Hospital Business Manager is Mr Pranote Buskornreungrat (SB, GradDipTh, MA).
Services & Projects
KRCH is much more than a place for the sick and injured to come and get care – the hospital also seeks to promote wholeness through a public health program and through a program of evangelism and discipleship. Our major ministries at KRCH cover: patient care, public health, residential and community based care and rehabilitation, research, staff development and Bible teaching and evangelism.
- Out-Patients Department
- In-Patients Department
- Public Health Unit
- Tuberculosis Work
- Tropical Disease Treatment
- Discipleship & Evangelism
- Staff Development & Workforce Planning
- Sangklaburi Safe House
- Candlelight Community Rehabilitation
Out-Patients Department
The Out-Patients Department (OPD) serves approximately 60 patients per day / 12,000 visits per year. In addition to all manner of routine illnesses and injuries, diseases commonly seen in patients include malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, dengue fever and HIV/AIDS. Patients include causalities of the Burmese civil war and occasional leprosy patients.
In-Patients Department
The In-Patient Department (IPD) serves approximately 1,800 patients per year. This includes displaced persons from the nearby Refugee Camp who are referred to the hospital by the International Rescue Committee for serious medical problems and surgery when they need care that cannot be provided in the refugee camp hospital. While the hospital is registered as a 25 bed hospital, it is capable of accommodating up to 40 patients when needed.
IPD work includes:
- A busy surgical unit which performs 300 procedures a year. Surgical work includes orthopaedics, urology, obstetrics and gynaecology, plastics, ear, nose and throat, and trauma including landmine injuries and gunshot wounds. General anaesthetics can be administered when volunteer anaesthetists visit the hospital.
- A delivery room where more than 100 babies are delivered each year.
Discipleship & Evangelism
As a Christian organisation, a core part of the hospital’s ministry is to share the Gospel – the good news of Jesus – and to encourage those who are already Christ’s followers to grow in their faith. This was undertaken through:
- Encouraging the hospital staff in Christian discipleship through a daily staff devotional time. All of the hospital staff meet for half an hour of prayer, musical worship and Bible teaching at the start of each day. On Wednesday mornings, this includes a collection of money for giving to another Christian ministry.
- Daily patient evangelism and pastoral ministry. In the Out-Patients Department, each morning patients in the waiting area hear the Gospel through music provided by the hospital band and through a presentation in Thai, Karen, Mon or Burmese. Later, while the clinic is running, Christian films are projected on a big screen and the hospital Chaplain and others circulate amongst the patients to minister to any pastoral needs and discuss the Gospel. In the In-Patients Department, patients receive film and recorded audio presentations of the Gospel, and personal visits from the hospital Chaplain.
- Christmas and Easter evangelism. The hospital holds a large evangelism event for the local community and surrounding villages at Christmas and Easter. These evening events include music and a Gospel presentation, and are supported by local churches which follow up people who express an interest in the Gospel.
| Human Resource Development
As a non-profit hospital in a rural location, it can be difficult to attract highly qualified new staff. For this reason, we are proactive about developing our existing staff and equipping future generations of local people to undertake and improve the ministry. The human resource development project includes the following elements: We seek to provide scholarship funds for existing staff and promising local students to study nursing or other health professions, with each student contracted to work at KRCH for one year for each year they receive the scholarship. Hospital staff provide tutoring in biology, physics, mathematics, and English, together with a program of work experience, for a group of local high-school students who are selected for their potential to apply for scholarship funds and later work in the hospital.
The Sangklaburi Safe House is a community health residential facility and rehabilitation clinic for adult and elderly non-Thai migrants or stateless people who have chronic physical or mental illness or disability, are isolated from all natural supports (i.e. no immediate family who can care for them), and have no income to pay for their necessary care. Many of the Safe House residents have complex needs, and a number of them have no idea where they are from and would be unable to survive without the twenty-four hour support and care provided by the Safe House staff. In March 2012 the Safe House was brought under the umbrella of the KRCH management structure in order to secure its future and ensure that it remains a sustainable community service.
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Candlelight
Candlelight is a community-based rehabilitation project that provides a range of services to people with disabilities, and their families. These services include:
- rehabilitation training, and facilitating access to services;
- promoting community inclusion;
- vocational training, income generation, and self-help groups.
In April 2012 the Candlelight project was brought under the umbrella of the KRCH management structure but is no longer active. The work of Candlelight has been continued under the Lanternlight Ministry by Jan & Jit Yawan.
