LIEUTENANT Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, in his capacity as acting governor, asked Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig last week to process payment to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. for the purchase of a magnetic resonance imaging machine and a hyperbaric chamber.
Palacios became acting governor when Gov. Ralph DLG Torres left the island to join United Airlines officials on the inaugural Narita-Saipan flight last week.
On Aug. 31, Palacios requested the Finance secretary “to please transfer the funds to CHCC which has been waiting for the needed machines since the enactment of the fiscal year 2022 budget measure or Public Law 22-8 last year.”
P.L. 22-8 allocates $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for the acquisition of an MRI and a hyperbaric chamber for CHCC.
MRI is used for diagnosis and treatment monitoring while a hyperbaric chamber is a decompression or recompression chamber used primarily to treat decompression sickness, gas gangrene resulting from infection by anaerobic bacteria, tissue injury arising from radiation therapy for cancer and wounds that are difficult to heal.
In his memo, Palacios reminded Atalig that “the procurement of these two medical equipment is critical and essential in addressing the healthcare needs for the people of the Commonwealth, thus, it will help reduce the cost of medical care that we rely heavily on through the medical referral program.”
Variety was unable to get a comment from the Finance secretary.
Arnold I. Palacios
