Facilities

The Lake Clinic operates 5 Floating Clinics and a fleet of 6 boats.

The Lake Clinic operates five clinics, four on the Tonlé Sap and one on the Steung Sen river. Our clinics are simple flexible spaces that allow for the doctors and nurses to not just treat patients but a place to live during their time on mission.

Additionally, The Lake Clinic operates a fleet of vehicles and boats that includes a bus, a van, a large boat nicknamed “The Taxi” and 5 smaller boats. The variety allows the teams to reach the clinic no matter how high or how low the water level is on the lake.

Each clinic has a washroom with shower, a kitchen, and a private area that can be used for exams. This space allows our team to live on the lake 3 days of the week so that in case of emergency we are there and ready.

For villages we serve that do not have a clinic, we work with the Village Chief to find space this is usually in a school. We travel by boat between the clinic and the target village and set up for a full day of clinic in our temporary location.

The Boats

  • TLC-4 'The Taxi'

    TLC’s largest boat is nicknamed “The Taxi.” Our largest boat operates during the high water season when the lake is 16,000 sq km. The Taxi is TLC’s safest option when the lake is the size of a small sea.

  • TLC-3

    TLC’s most used vessel can travel in both high and low water seasons. The TLC is the primary boat that our lake team uses between 6 and 8 months of the year.

    In recent years, the Tonlé Sap’s water level has dropped so low that even our TLC-3 cannot make the journey and we have to instead use our smaller vessels, the 5 and 6.

    The TLC-3 is nearly 25 feet and can fit the entire team and their supplies, albeit not exactly comfortably.

  • TLC-5 and TLC-6

    The smallest boats TLC uses between port and the clinic. In 2018, the TLC-5 and TLC-6 were each equipped with a roof to make the up to four hour journey during the low season more bearable for the team.

    When the water is low enough that these boats begin being used, both must make the journey at once in order to carry both the team and the supplies and equipment from port to the clinic.

  • TLC-2 'The Minnow'

    A shuttle boat used for the team and equipment between home visits and between the home clinic and satellite villages TLC works in.

    This boat is used weekly by our Outreach Team making home by home stops and during the dry, low water season by the entire team when traveling between the clinic and the villages that do not have a physical clinic.

  • TLC-1 'The Duckling' Retired 2013

    Our Charming Duckling was launched in 2008 and allowed a basic healthcare team of one doctor, a pediatric nurse, and a midwife to travel to these remote areas and remain there for 3 days each week. The TLC-1 slept five people comfortably and was equipped with a kitchen, a dining area, toilet and shower.

    The Duckling was used to house the team before the clinics were built.

    In December 2019, American TV show ‘The Fixers’ renovated our duckling to become a doctor’s lounge for the river clinic where it is permanently anchored.