MPLT Board Chairman Alvaro A. Santos told Variety, “We did discuss it with CEO Juan N. Babauta and they are reviewing it and may be looking at the 2012 activity stage since 2011 is about gone.”
Santos said he was told that Babauta and Gov. Benigno R. Fitial will sign a new agreement since the new corporation is still in its infancy and it remains part of the central government.
“It’s not a fully autonomous corporation yet,” Santos said.
Earlier, MPLT approved in principle the $1.5 million loan to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. electronic health record project, an approval that was contingent on CHC’s identifying the signatories to the agreement.
The proposal was seeking a $1.5 million loan for 18 months at 5 percent interest.
The project would establish a network between clinics on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in pursuit of cutting down paperwork and bureaucracy.
CHC has been planning to upgrade and to implement a certified electronic health record system but is in dire need of funding to make this happen.
Under the federal program, the CHC is qualified for incentives in the amount of $2 million in the first year, $1.5 million in the second year, $1 million in the third year, and $500,000 in the fourth year with a bonus of $200 for every patient discharged between 1,150 and 23,000.
The program called for the CNMI central government to provide the capital first; however, it couldn’t do so. So it turned to MPLT.
