DR. HAY S. MEAS

Dr. Meas, Founder of the Cambodian Women's Health Organization (CWHO) and First Director at Large, is an Obstetrician & Gynecologist. Dr. Meas received his Medical Doctorate Degree from the faculty of Medicine of Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1971. He practiced medicine for the next two years in the Chinese Hospital in Phnom Penh and was the Medical Director for the Cambodian operations of pharmaceutical firms from France & USA distributing medication samples.

He immigrated to Virginia in the USA November during 1973. He passed the Medical Equivalency of Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduate (ECFMG) before joining the Residency of Obstetrics & Gynecology Program at Prince George’s General Hospital in Maryland where he received the Best Resident Award.

After passing the Federal Licensing Examination (FLEX) he went into solo practice in Obstetrics & Gynecology in Houston Texas, Ohio & Washington State. He continues to maintain a vibrant Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in Lakewood & then in Tacoma since 1993. He was a recipient of multiple awards of American Medical Association.

Dr. Meas was incepted as a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (FICS) in Chicago, Illinois in 1992.

He was a Founding Members of Cambodian Buddhist Temple “Buddharaingsy “in Houston, advisor to Cambodian Association of Houston, President of Khmer Community of Tacoma and member of Board of Directors of Cambodian American National Council.

He was born in Kampong Thom Province of Central Cambodia. His mother died from complications of childbirth when he was five years old during the delivery of his younger brother from a fatal complication that could have been prevented by a simple Obstetrical intervention. His brother succumbed too due to circumstances of poor rural existence, as the breast of an Aunty could not sustain him and her own son too. All these years of motherless grief have left a deep scar in his heart & mind.

Dr. Meas bitterly remembers the dark clouds and the rains which washed away his childhood tears shed for his departed mother and baby brother. He vowed to do something to help the women of his Homeland.

He is very proud of his family, his wife Sieu and his 3 grown children and he has a profound love for his motherland Cambodia and her people.

Dr. Meas is deeply grateful for the opportunities he has been given in the USA and has a strong sense of social responsibility to assist in the revitalization of Cambodia. His vision is to curb the maternal mortality by establishing a Cambodia Women’s Health Care System (CWHCS) & providing intensive Post Graduate Training to Rural Midwives to deliver Quality Maternal Care in remote rural areas where medical care is virtually inexistent.

To achieve the vision Dr. Meas founded the Cambodia Women Health Organization (CWHO) in 2005. CWHO comes full circle from his childhood loss and lifelong desire to make things better for Cambodia. He hopes other Cambodian Expatriates and Cambodian American professionals feel as strongly as he does regarding the revitalization of Cambodia.

Working together Khmer expatriates, Cambodian Americans and other Americans may bring their skills to focus on the critical problems of women’s massive deaths in Cambodia. Together we can make the visionary dream real.

By David Abrams, BSN, RN, MHP