HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The debate over where and how to build a new public hospital rages on as the speaker and governor exchange tit-for-tat on the proposal to utilize Guam Ancestral Lands Commission properties for a medical complex, Bill 184-37.
Hours after a meeting on the bill between the governor and most Democratic lawmakers Tuesday morning, Speaker Therese Terlaje’s office published a release stating that another public hearing on Bill 184 will take place next week.
The reason, according to the release, is that information is still lacking on the proposed site for the medical complex.
Bill 184, which was submitted by the governor, identifies six lots comprising 61 acres in the “Eda Agaga” area of Barrigada for the medical complex. There is also a request to amend the bill to include a seventh lot, which would raise the acreage to about 100 acres. The governor’s plan for the medical complex is to build a new hospital adjacent to other facilities, such as a veterans center.
But many in the medical community are pushing for plans to be scaled down to just a new hospital, to be built at Ypao Point in Tamuning. This is because most medical facilities and staff are said to already be situated in that village, in addition to some existing infrastructure already in place at the site, according to past testimony.
Public hearings on Bill 184 took place on Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, the latter date being a continuation. Terlaje’s office stated that testimony at the hearings “revealed very little” new information from what was already discussed at an earlier oversight hearing on Ypao Point, which took place in October.
The speaker’s office then went over various information regarding infrastructure costs, acreage, drive time and other issues.
In response, Adelup published a release on Wednesday, stating that the speaker disregarded testimonies favoring Bill 184.
“Unfortunately, Speaker Terlaje’s message seems clear: despite hours of testimony by veterans, village mayors and island residents in support of Bill 184-37, none of it mattered and nearly all of it (was) ignored simply because it did not conform to her mistaken understanding of the facts,” the governor’s office stated.
“Notwithstanding her prior public support for building this complex on crown lands, the speaker issued a four-page press release that blatantly ignores resounding support at the public hearing for a medical complex site large enough to meet Guam’s growing needs – a site closer to southern residents that maintains facilities for island veterans. None of which of the many public testimonies in support were mentioned by the speaker in her release,” the release added.
Other than identifying the lots for a medical complex, Bill 184-37 would authorize GALC to negotiate with the governor for the sale or lease of the lots, as well as allow the commission to approve the sale or lease without needing additional legislative approval.
While the speaker has scheduled another hearing on Bill 184, The Guam Daily Post also asked her about Tuesday’s meeting with the governor on the bill, and what she learned from that meeting.
“I want answers regarding the hospital and medical complex on the record during the public hearing so that everyone has the same information to make evidence-based decisions,” the speaker stated in response.
Nov. 16 has been marked for the next hearing on Bill 184.
A hearing for Bill 185-37, the measure that would require a new hospital to be built in Tamuning, will take place on Nov. 20.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero discusses the potential construction of a medical complex in Barrigada and Mangilao during an informational meeting in Adelup on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
Speaker Therese Terlaje asks questions of the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission regarding Bill 184-37, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in the Guam Congress Building Public Hearing Room in Hagåtña.
The Guam Ancestral Lands Commission answers questions regarding Bill 184-37 (COR) Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in the Guam Congress Building Public Hearing Room in Hagåtña.
