Department of Public Health medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom said there are doctors who could be hired much quicker but CHC is hiring doctors based on the licensure requirements.
“We know there are less expensive physicians in the Pacific Basin that are available who want to come in but we cannot hire them. We are bound very strictly by the medical licensing board,” Brostrom said.
CHC receives approximately $15 million for Medicare and Medicaid.
“We must comply with the requirements in order to receive this essential funding and this is roughly one -third of CHC’s operating budget,” Brostrom said.
CHC has about 30 doctors including visiting physicians from Guam, part-timers and those who are on-call.
“The doctors at CHC are working overtime and putting in very long hours. It’s very important that we get more doctors and it’s a situation that we want to make better,” Brostrom said.
Department of Public Health acting Secretary Pete Untalan said three of the seven doctors immediately needed are for the pediatrics department while four are for internal medicine.
Untalan said CHC hopes to get more doctors through the new provisions under the J1-Visa waiver category.
He said before, foreign doctors who took residency in the U.S. were required to go back to their countries to serve for a number of years.
“Under the provision of the J-1 visa waiver, new doctors can choose to work in medically underserved areas,” Untalan said.
With the looming federalization of local immigration, Untalan said they have been receiving inquiries from interested doctors.
“Once federalization sets in, that’s the only way that the doctors under the J-1 visa category can qualify to work here,” he said.
He added that recruiting doctors and medical staff is a complex, ongoing process that takes time.
The CNMI has very limited choices, he said.
“New doctors will consider the location of the island, and the salary rates.”
