Renowned Cambodian Doctor Passes From COVID In USA
From Cambodian Town Facebook. RIP:
Our condolences. Announcement of the passing of Dr. Linath Lim from Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America President, Dr. Song Tan: It is with extreme sadness that we learn that Dr. Linath Lim is no longer with us. The CHPAA family has lost one of our members in the fight against this pandemic. Dr. Linath Lim, who was featured in CHPAA Virtual Gala on November 6, 2020 in tribute to the front line health care workers, died of COVID-19 on January 18, 2021.
This death is a sobering reminder of the magnitude of this pandemic and that the front line healthcare workers are putting their heath and lives at harm’s way doing their heroic job saving lives.
Dr. Lim’s life is one of courage, resilience and triumph. She was born October 8, 1962 in Cambodia. During her years in Bak Touk High School in Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge took over the country, depriving her of her most formative years of education. She was lucky to have survived those horrendous years of the Cambodian Genocide.
She arrived to America in 1982, at the age of 20. After she obtained her GED, she attended Taft College, city of Taft in the San Joaquin Valley, California and transferred to California State University, Fresno. Then, she went on to graduate from Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1993. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine from Loma Linda Medical Center in 1996. She has been working as a hospitalist at the Emergency Department of the Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, California.
Being one of the first Cambodian American survivors of the Killing Fields to have graduated from US Medical Schools, she has committed herself to giving back in community services. She was among the small group of Cambodian American Health Professionals who attended the first meetings in the early stage of the founding of the Cambodian Heath Professionals Association of America (CHPAA) in 1997. She participated in the inaugural medical and dental mission to Cambodia in January 2011 and again in 2017 to Tbong Khmum and Kampong Cham provinces to provide free medical care to the underserved people of Cambodia.
As part of the CHPAA family, she is a steadfast supporter and steward of CHPAA. To those who know her well, she has a huge heart, filled with kindness, compassion and the passion to help others.
Well aware of her significant personal risks in this pandemic and out of her sense of duty, she has no hesitation in carrying out her duty as a physician in caring for COVID patients, especially during the upsurge of COVID cases of late. Having survived the tremendous hardship and starvation in Cambodia, she ironically succumbed to COVID in the line of duty in America. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the sacrifices of all the unsung heroes like Dr. Linath Lim. On behalf of CHPAA family, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to her family. My her Soul Rest In Eternal Peace!
