The current problems in Cambodia’s national hospitals subsist in a geographic imbalance in the location
of staff and health facilities, and low staff motivation largely due to inadequate payment. This paper aims
to investigate the associations among hospital performance, hospital fi nances, and other related issues in
fi ve national hospitals in Phnom Penh, using annual reports of the fi ve hospitals and annual statistics of
the Ministry of Health, from 2000 to 2004. The bed occupancy rates (BOR), average lengths of stay
(ALS), hospital mortality rates (HMR), maternal and neonatal mortality rates, numbers of patients, main
health problems of inpatients, numbers of health personnel, staff incentives, and annual hospital income
were used in this study as indicators of fi ve hospitals in Phnom Penh city. The ALS varied from 3.8 to
9 days. The numbers of health personnel (physician, medical assistant, secondary nurses, primary nurses,
secondary midwives, and primary midwives) per 100 beds were from 114 to 282. Supplemental salary per
staff also differed greatly among these hospitals; the salaries were the highest at Calmette hospital (US$
212.8) and the lowest at Preah Kossamak (US$ 12.4). In the fi ve hospitals, the average BOR was 58.8%,
and the mean of total annual income was US$ 1,427,852 per year. Although not signifi cant, there was a
tendency for higher supplemental salaries to be associated with higher BOR (Spearman rank correlation
coeffi cient 0.70, p = 0.188). This study showed the differences in the hospital indicators among fi ve
national hospitals in Phnom Penh city, and the tendency of higher BOR in the hospitals paying higher
supplemental salaries to the staff. Higher supplemental salary to the staff seemed to contribute the better
hospital performance.