How Much 'Swissness' Is Still In Beat Richner's Children's Hospitals?

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In the five children's hospitals of the "Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital" Foundation, 80% to 90% of all hospital treatments for children and adolescents in Cambodia are carried outfree of charge. The 2,500 employees are locals, only the general director is European. The children's hospitals are managed by the Swiss Foundation based in Zurich.

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  Beat Richner as a student in 1969. He was president of the small student council at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. (Keystone) Keystone
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  Beat Richner had many strings on his bow. Alter-ego“Beatocello” was one of them, shown here during the International Year of the Child in 1979. (Keystone/Susann Schimert-Ramme) Keystone/Susann Schimert-Ramme
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  Beat Richner being awarded the Adele Duttweiler Prize in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, on October 26, 1994. Pictured with Mario Bonorand, left, and Ulrich K. Hochstrasser of the foundation committee. (Keystone/Willi Helfenberger) Keystone/Willi Helfenberger
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  Beat Richner examining a child at the Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital in February 2001. The Zurich paediatrician opened the hospital in Siem Reap in March 1999. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone/Gary Kieffer
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  Beat Richner observes the construction of the children's hospital, Jayavarman VII, in Siem Reap in March 1999. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone/Gary Kieffer
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  Beat Richner shows Britain's Princess Anne the maternity ward of the Kantha Bopha Hospital of Hope in Siem Reap in 2002. The hospital, funded by donations from Switzerland, was built on land donated by King Norodom Sihanouk. (AP/Andy Eames) Keystone
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  Beat Richner with former Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey during her tour of the children's hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2007. (AP/Heng Sinith) Keystone
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  People lining up for free medical treatment at the Kantha Bopha (Jayavarman VII) Children's Hospital in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat, Cambodia, on December 25, 2008. EyesWideOpen/Getty Images
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  Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, right, greets Beat Richner during the hospital inauguration ceremony in Phnom Penh in 2007. Looking on is Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. (Photo/Heng Sinith) Keystone
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  Banners over a street in Siem Reap request money and blood donations for the children's hospital Jayavarman VII in 2002. (Keystone/Gary Kieffer) Keystone
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  Mothers with their babies sit in the waiting room of the children's hospital (Jayavarman VII) in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2012. (swissinfo.ch/Frédéric Burnand) swissinfo.ch

The quality and the training standard of the hospital staff are of Swiss standard. Since the hospitals foundation in 1992, these standards have been ensured through a cooperation with the Children's Hospital in Zurich and other Swiss hospitals.

Doctors and nurses undertake a special training, which takes place in the hospitals themselves and is supported by Swiss specialists.

Medical professionals from Switzerland regularly travel to Cambodia; for example, Oliver Kretschmar, head of cardiology at the Children's Hospital Zurich and professor at the University of Zurich. He says, "The transfer of knowledge takes place in such a way that I travel to Cambodia twice a year, assist in operations there and discuss them before and after. It still needs occasional external input so that the different areas can develop further."

Beat Richner was a brilliant fundraiser as "Beatocello". Since his death, the foundation has tried to remain present in the public eye with variappearances and campaigns. It organises the annual gala at the Knie Ciras well as cello concerts.

In the past two years, about 70% of the funds raised still came from Switzerland. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has also supported the Kantha Bopha hospitals since 1994 and will continue to do so until the end of 2027, as part of its Cambodia aid.

For a few years now, funds have also been coming from within Cambodia from varisources, including contributions from the new Cambodian "Kantha Bopha Foundation". According to Foundation Board President Philip Robinson, the Cambodian share of donations has been around 30% for the past two years. "This year we expect 40% and next year around 50% donation proportions from Cambodia."