“But this I can say to you. We are well aware and everyone should be well aware that the law created an advisory board of trustees. The board members and the CEO and everyone in the corporation need to recognize that their role is advisory in nature and not governing,” Demapan said in an interview yesterday.
Hospital staffers who requested anonymity told Variety how healthcare corp. board chairman Joaquin S. Torres and one of the emergency room doctors had a heated argument last Friday.
The staffers said what started as a visit by Torres and CEO Juan N. Babauta to the different departments turned into a heated exchange of words when the issue on housing benefits for the nonresident nurses was brought up.
Those who witnessed the incident said Torres talked to a doctor in a “hostile” manner, and their heated exchange of words “almost led to blows.”
Babauta told Variety in a brief interview that he will not take any more questions from the media at this time, but he promised to issue an official statement anytime this week.
Hot tempered
According to a source, members of the board including Torres and Babauta were going around the hospital on that day.
While in the emergency room, they asked a physician what some of the problems were.
“The ER doctor candidly told them several things such as vendors not being paid and lack of supplies including vital lab test, re-using soiled and dirty linen, no payment yet of the October housing, lack of adequate staff, etc.
“This candor apparently caused Torres to get upset and pointing his finger at the physician in a loud and hostile manner calling him an ‘a*****’ no less than three times and also calling him a ‘crackhead.’
“The incident was witnessed by many of the ER staffers, the quality management manager, and Babauta.
The source said the physician turned to Babuata and asked the CEO, “Aren’t you going to doing anything about this?”
But the former governor just stood there and said nothing, the source added.
Because of the incident, hospital staffers “have lost any confidence they may have in this board of trustee member.”
“Torres is viewed as arrogant and condescending. The staffers are also losing faith in Babauta for not standing up to Torres. He is seen as the person directly pulling the strings of the hospital and the CEO is a limp noodle bending to Torres whims,” the source said.
Housing
One of the first things the board of trustees is considering is scrapping the housing allowance, which was also discussed in the past but was not implemented because “half the [hospital] staff was ready to quit.”
The source also disclosed that “not a single CW application for any nonresident healthcare staff has been submitted because they cannot figure out how to pay the fee — not a single vendor is being paid for the same reason.”
Babauta denied that a decision to scrap the housing allowance has been made, saying “everything right now is status quo.”
The source said Torres “wants to cut the entire corporation budget this year to $25 million — that is effectively cutting expenditures in half! How in god’s name is this realistic and what does it mean for the level of healthcare to the people of the CNMI? It appears… that they shall be bringing the level of healthcare down lower than it already is! They defined a budget without any knowledge of the current situation in the hospital and are stuffing the level of care into that ridiculous budget with little knowledge or care of the negative ramifications.”
The source added, “The healthcare corporation law was intended to buffer healthcare from politics, but really we are finding out that it has in fact become worse. We have four politically appointed members on the board of trustees that have absolutely no clue or experience of health care operation now trying to directly manage the facility. We also have a career politician that may have in fact little interest in running the corporation but rather just setting up his next political move.”
Demapan said the administration understands that the healthcare corporation is facing some challenges during this transition period.
“That is something that was expected. Of course, it is a very new undertaking. The board and CEO fully recognize these challenges,” he said.
According to Demapan, the administration “would like to hear first from the corporation their sentiments and what challenges they are facing and what parts of the law need to be addressed by the Legislature.”
