Fitial made the announcement during the debate with his main gubernatorial opponent, Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider.
The governor said the hospital must be reformed.
His health emergency declaration now empowers the governor to allow the entry of foreign doctors, most likely from the Philippines, to work as physician assistants for CHC under the supervision of U.S.-certified doctors.
“Immediately, the Department of Public Health shall adopt appropriate recruitment strategies to restore an adequate level of medical services to the client population,” reads part of the one-page declaration provided to the media.
The declaration also mandates the Department of Public Health to submit a written plan to move the commonwealth from its present “medical emergency” status to an acceptable level of care.
Within 15 days from Oct. 20, the Medical Licensing Board “shall review and revise regulations so that expanded medical services may be provided to the CNMI.”
The governor said he signed the declaration because the CNMI is experiencing an increasing rate of deaths attributed to lack of quality health care.
“The current systems of health care delivery are overtaxed with less than the needed numbers of physicians and nurses available to serve medical needs and the rate of off-island referrals has increased to the point where it poses a fiscal threat to the economy stability of the executive branch,” he said.
But the chairman of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, Saipan Republican Rep. Ralph DLG Torres, is not convinced the declaration would make any difference.
Torres said Public Health is an executive agency and the governor could have addressed its mounting problems without placing CHC under a state of medical emergency.
