Commonwealth Health Center medical referral director Ronald D. Sablan, in an interview yesterday, said the medical referral agreement for pediatric patients has been successful and they may be able to start sending adult patients to Nagoya soon.
CHC has a medical referral agreement for adult patients with the Philippines.
According to Sablan, they sent the first CNMI pediatric patient to Haichi Pediatric Hospital in Nagoya last year.
Three young patients, he said, were sent this year on medical referral to the Nagoya City University Hospital.
Although the cost depends on the condition of the patient, Sablan said the average amount, so far, “is cheaper than expected.”
Prior to CHC’s deal with Japan, he said the medical referral cost ranged from $3,000 to $40,000, “and sometimes it even went higher.”
The Japanese medical referral costs, he said, are much lower.
Sablan said Guam Homeland Security has also been very accommodating to non-U.S. citizen medical referral patients from Saipan who have to transit through Guam.
The cancellation of Continental Airlines’ Saipan-Manila flights has inconvenienced Saipan patients who have been referred to Philippine hospitals.
After an almost an hour travel to Guam, the patient has to stay for three hours at the airport before going on a three-hour flight to the Philippines.
“But we have been doing our best to coordinate with Guam to minimize the inconvenience for the patients,” Sablan said.
Japan, in contrast, still has direct flights to Saipan.
