THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., which is an autonomous public corporation, is seeking a total of $151.3 million from the central government.
During a budget hearing in the House on Thursday, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna said the balance owed CHCC from previous fiscal years totaled $12.48 million. In addition, CHCC is hoping to get $114.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and a $24.7 million subsidy from the CNMI’s general fund appropriation for fiscal year 2022.
The CNMI government’s current budget is about $96 million excluding the $4.6 million for the Department of Public Lands.
For fiscal year 2022, the administration has proposed an $86,000 subsidy and $4.1 million in ARPA funds for CHCC whose primary source of operating revenue is its hospital services. But it also receives federal funding assistance and subsidies from the CNMI government.
Also appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee chaired by Rep. Donald Manglona were CHCC Chief Financial Officer Perlie Santos, Chief Operations Officer Subroto Banerji, Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez and other health officials.
Muna told lawmakers that since last year, CHCC has been requesting funding support “to continue to protect [the community] from the pandemic, and to save lives.”
She said, “There was no dedicated funding for treatment and hospital improvements [even as] CHCC [continues to] work with the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force in preventing this terrible infection from spreading…in the CNMI.”
She added, “We cannot forget and are forever grateful for all the heart and soul that CHCC staff and management have put into their daily work and continue to do so without hesitation.”
She said the funding proposed by the CNMI government for CHCC in FY 2021 “stunned us.”
She added, “If we can put value on what we do, the pandemic would and should have been one major indicator of how important our work is and how important health is to the CNMI population.”
She expressed appreciation to federal agencies that provided support to CHCC for contact tracing, testing and vaccinations.
But she added that these federal funds are dedicated to allowable costs only so CHCC “still needs to rely on revenues earned through hospital services, which require hospital staff.”
She noted that contact tracing, testing and vaccinations involve the same people who provide hospital services so “the juggling of personnel is a daily chore for all of us.”
Muna said CHCC can apply for federal grants, but these usually pertain to workforce, outreach and the overall health issues in the CNMI pre-pandemic, during the pandemic and post-pandemic.
CHCC, she added, has yet to find a federal funding opportunity focused on hospital and clinic services.
She said, “Braiding and blending funding streams has been a key strategy of CHCC.”
She added, “The integration of public health and clinic services makes this strategy possible and a success. Even with the pandemic, CHCC opened an oncology center and completed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services survey, and while there were findings, we had no flags for immediate jeopardy, and we continue to show that compliance with the CMS standards is still our top priority.”
Muna told lawmakers that CHCC “can do more by addressing the gaps in care and investments,” especially if the healthcare corporation receives the level of funding it is requesting from the CNMI government, which has received over $481 million in ARPA funds from the federal government.
The administration said the funds will finance ongoing Covid-19 emergency measures while, among other things, replenishing lost CNMI government revenue due to the pandemic, bringing back government jobs lost during the pandemic and providing direct aid to families facing food, housing and other financial insecurity.
Rep. Patrick San Nicolas, center background, asks a question to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna, back to the camera, as Reps. Richard Lizama, left, and Denita Yangetmai listen during the House Ways and Means Committee budget hearing on Thursday.
