Zimmer Biomet donated $5.7 million in spine medical equipment to the The Cornerstone Foundation and our team delivered it to Dr. Sim Sokchan, Neurosurgeon and Country Director for CMMC Jeremiah’s Hope Hospital in Phnom Penh, in January of 2020. The only conditions of the donation were the implants would not be sold and patients would not be charged. We are thrilled to be a part of this incredible donation and very thankful to Zimmer and their generosity.
"I am so fortunate to have this equipment and am probably the busiest surgeon using the equipment,” says Dr. Sokchan, He points out not many facilities exist in the country that can do spine surgeries – only three national hospitals and Jeremiah’s Hope.
And the timing of receiving this donation could not have been better. “I was about to order spinal screws, but they are very expensive. My wish was to order them from Korea, but they are still very expensive. So, I was about to buy some more affordable spinal screws from China, but they are not top quality,” he explains. Then, this donation came through. Not only did it contain screws but also, rods, everything for deformity, fractures, fusions, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar products.
He is encouraged that his team will no longer be limited by lack of equipment and that this donation will cover five years of lumbar spine, thoracic spine and cervical spine instrumentation surgeries. He estimates that in an average year, he completes about 90 procedures using spinal implants. With the Zimmer Spine equipment, he expects to double this number to 180 per year.
