LOCATION: Pua, Nan
ESTABLISHED: 1971
‘A hospital for the people’—according to director Dr. Kitisak Kasetsinsombat, this is the heart of Pua Hospital. “People should feel a sense of belonging or ownership with the hospital,” he says. Established in March of 1979, the hospital was located in a ‘Red Zone,’ an area considered dangerous because of active communists during that time. The hospital continues to serve the relatively poor living in Pua, Nan.
Below are some of the hospital’s distinctive programs:
- ‘OXYGEN FOR LIFE’
Heavy smoking, using open fires for cooking inside the home and forest fires have led many people in Nan to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which requires them to have oxygen machines. So, the hospital launched a communications campaign via their social media channels and sold shirts to collect enough money to buy oxygen machines.
Ultimately, the campaign obtained approximately 40 oxygen machines—all from the donations of ordinary people. This enabled some patients to bring an oxygen tank home, relieving the burden from local hospitals. - ORGANIC VEGETABLES FROM THE COMMUNITY
To help support the relatively poor people in the area, the hospital only buys organic vegetables from the community, making even winter vegetables, such as cabbages, broccoli and Chinese mustard greens obtainable all year round. The initiative generates at
least 100,000 baht (about US$2,800) per month for the community. - MOBILE COVID-19 VACCINATION TEAM:
Because 80 percent of the area of Nan is mountainous and 20 percent of the population live there, it is difficult for many villagers to travel down to the hospital to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The hospital has a mobile COVID-19 vaccination team that
travels up into the mountains to give vaccinations to these people.
WHAT IS THE HOSPITAL DOING TO COMBAT NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (NCDS)?
Because NCDs are mainly the result of preventable behavior, such as eating an unhealthy diet or smoking, the hospital’s approach to these diseases involves Buddhist psychotherapy. Practiced by nurses, the approach involves talking to each patient and teaches
people to be with themselves, know themselves and find their own purpose.
Source: Interview with Dr. Kitisak Kasetsinsombat, Director of Pua Hospital
