By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

THE cash-strapped government, which is in the process of privatizing the operation of its power service on Saipan, is now also seeking private entities to take over the operation of the Commonwealth Health Center’s outpatient care services for adults, women and children at the new $17.5 million public health building in Garapan.
Aside from the issuance of a request for proposals, or RFP, last week, CHC or the Department of Public Health has not made any other public announcement about this major privatization project.
Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez and Procurement and Supply Director Herman S. Sablan jointly issued the RFP, with a May 10 deadline for submissions of proposals.
In the copy of the 10-page scope of work obtained yesterday, Villagomez and Sablan said privatizing outpatient comprehensive primary care for adults, women and children “will result in substantial improvements in patient access, continuity in care and patient medical information.”
They said the privatization will also indirectly improve acute care services at CHC while supporting private sector health care in the CNMI.
“The goal of the Department of Public Health is to provide uninterrupted service delivery of outpatient comprehensive primary care to the population of the CNMI at the new Dr. Jose Villagomez facility and to assure 100 percent access for the community, regardless of ability to pay,” Villagomez and Sablan said.
The new Public Health and Hemodialysis Center building is located north and adjacent to CHC in Garapan.
With at least 32 doctors and 189 nurses, the government-owned CHC is the only hospital in the CNMI. CHC opened in 1986 and has added a new public health and hemodialysis building which have yet to open.
The scope of work for RFP07-CHC-049, adapted from an RFP of the State of Hawaii Public Health Department, encompasses five tasks and responsibilities, including comprehensive primary care services by a multidisciplinary team which may include but is not limited to primary care physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, certified midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses, among others.
The companies that are to take over these services will also be tasked to develop and implement a schedule of fees “which is designed to recover reasonable costs for providing services and a corresponding schedule of adjustments based on the client’s ability to pay.”
They will also be tasked to insure that all clients are screened for insurance eligibility, develop a plan on how to accommodate the uninsured, and accept CNMI Medicaid, Medicare and commercial insurance plans.
“The proposer shall have significant experience in providing comprehensive primary care services to individuals and families,” the scope of work states.