By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

A FIVE-YEAR plan that will resolve and improve health delivery services in the CNMI has been proposed to the government by off-island private medical sector representatives.
During a presentation at yesterday’s Western Micronesian Chief Executives Summit, health investors and professionals discussed details of the plan.
“It has been presented to us and we and the governor are very receptive to it,” Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez told the media yesterday. “We are seriously looking at the specific details of the proposal and hopefully by next week, we can have something about it.”
The integrated healthcare delivery system presented during the summit is comprised of four components:a medical resource component, nursing services, healthcare logistics and resources, and the political will to attain the healthcare objectives.
“Although nothing has been committed yet to this proposal, but we’re looking at everything, and the bottom-line is our ability to attract quality (partners) to come here and help build our capacity,” Villagomez said, adding that after studying the proposal, “we may be looking at the bidders interested in joining us in this endeavor.”
This will be the first time the government establishes a partnership with off-island private sector representatives, which previously dealt only with the CNMI in terms of supplies and pharmaceutical deliveries.
“This is the beginning of the CNMI’s partnership with private entities in terms of healthcare delivery,” Villagomez said. “This is a new twist because, in the past, relations with these sectors were about supplying us with equipment and supplies…and never a workforce.”
Sedy Demesa, chairwoman and president of the soon-to-open Emmanuel College, said the proposal aims to allow doctors from other countries to practice in the CNMI and other island states.
The plan proposes the creation of a special regional medical board that will allow doctors to practice in the region without re-taking the medical board examination.
Demesa’s college will offer a licensed vocational nursing program that can be completed in less than 12 months.
The plan also calls for a “regional purchasing arm” that will consolidate purchases of healthcare supplies which will allow the CNMI to take advantage of purchasing discounts and wholesale prices.
“There are pharmaceutical companies from California that are willing to come in and partner with existing pharmacies so that the CNMI pharmacy groups may avail themselves of discounts available to California pharmaceutical firms,” Demesa said during her presentation.
Philippine-based Loyola Medical College Foundation chairman Johnny Y. Fong said bringing medical specialists and doctors to the CNMI will help reduce the cost of medical referrals.
The money saved can be used in procuring more equipment for the Commonwealth Health Center, he added.
According to Fong, one of the major reasons why prescriptions are expensive in the CNMI is the lack of pharmacists here.
“Without breaking that chain, pricing will never go down in the CNMI,” he said.
The first two years of the plan’s implementation will focus on the establishment of two and four-year nursing schools on island.
“In the third year of the plan, 50 percent of off-island medical referrals will be cut,” Fong said.
He said the objective of the plan is to help the CNMI become self-sufficient in health delivery services in addition to having a tertiary hospital that can accommodate medical referrals from neighboring islands like Palau and Yap.
Emmanuel College, which will offer an 11-month licensed vocational nursing program, is also partnering with a Philippine skills training company.
Michael Alexander M. Ang, managing director of the Manila Times’ Language Institute and Skills Training Institute, said they will offer online programs in partnership with Emmanuel College.
“We have 150 online programs which will allow students to earn bachelor’s and masters’ degrees and we are also providing the opportunity to earn certificates or vocational certifications for programs like licensed vocational nursing,” he told Variety.
Ang said with the online training program, students can just come for orientation and exit examinations and the bulk of their educational process can be done in their homes.