GOVERNOR Juan N. Babauta says he is pushing through with his plan to electronically link the Commonwealth Health Center with medical institutions and health providers in Hawaii.
Babauta and Health Secretary James U. Hofschneider yesterday held a teleconference with Dr. Norman Okamura of the University of Hawaii to discuss rural health care telemedicine.
“It will greatly help us,” the governor said. “It will link our hospital here through tele-video conferencing with Hawaii, and ultimately be of use for our local physicians,” he added.
The administration will also ask the federal government to provide discounted rates for all public school libraries and for the CNMI’s long distance link with the health care institutions in Hawaii.
The “biggest problem” is the definition of Saipan as an “urban area” under the federal Telecommunication Act of 1996, the governor said.
“Because of the ambiguity of the definition, the long distance rate charged for the CNMI
to other health care providers in Hawaii is very, very high,” Babauta said.
He said they are going to clarify the definition to avail of a much lower “linkage rate” for the Commonwealth Health Center and public school libraries.
Babauta said the undiscounted rate costs the government $200,000 in annual fees.
