“IT’S exhausting,” Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said Monday regarding the CNMI’s ongoing Covid-19 response.
The rise in the number of positive community cases and hospitalizations has taken a toll on the healthcare system, she added.
“Our team is there. They’re very able and capable to treat the patients that we have right now…[but] we are at a level where it’s tiring… It’s exhausting our healthcare system for sure…. It’s going to cost us a lot of money because this is additional time for our staff…. We have very committed people, but they have families at home, too,” she added.
The CNMI’s only hospital is now waiting for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Muna said.
Within the next couple of days, she said FEMA personnel will be assigned to the CNMI to aid CHCC in the administration of monoclonal antibodies for Covid-19 treatment, as well as provide additional support to the overall healthcare system.
Muna reiterated the importance of practicing public health mitigation measures to combat the spread of Covid-19.
“The only way for us to stop it is [by] practicing the public health mitigation measures… If you are not [practicing these measures], then [the spread] is going to continue,” she said.
Because of the CNMI’s high vaccination rate and promotion of booster shots, she added, there are fewer hospitalizations compared to the number of positive cases that have been identified so far.
“In the eyes of the health system [and] the hospital, [the numbers are] high, because we are the only hospital in town, and we are working tirelessly to try to ensure that the patients are cared for. When we put in protocols, we always talk about how our health system has to be a factor in ensuring that we are able to handle this because it is going to be the health system that’s going to be running the operations [and] seeing all these patients that are needing care,” she said.
CHCC operates the CNMI’s sole hospital, emergency department, several outpatient clinics, a dialysis unit, ancillary services, behavioral health services, and all public health functions, including the islands’ Covid-19 response, such as Covid-19 testing, contact tracing, and mental health services.
