THE CNMI is facing an “imminent loss” of medical and surgical eye care, Marianas Eye Institute Medical Director Dr. David Khorram said.
In his letter to Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, who chairs the Senate Committees on Fiscal Affairs, and Health, Education, & Welfare, Khorram expressed his support for Senate Bill 23-67, which would allow licensed physicians from foreign countries to practice medicine at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the CNMI’s lone hospital.
Khorram respectfully asked the Senate to pass the bill quickly to prevent the imminent loss of medical and surgical eye care in the CNMI.
He said that in three months, Marianas Eye Institute will face “a critical staffing crisis.”
He noted that since 1998, MEI has been the only clinic on island with a full-time ophthalmologist.
“Our current ophthalmologist will be leaving in February, and despite extensive recruitment efforts —including advertising nationally, hiring a headhunting firm, contacting all North American residency programs, and offering a top salary — we have been unable to find a replacement from the U.S. or Canada,” Khorram said.
Without an ophthalmologist on island, Khorram said hundreds of diabetic patients requiring monthly treatment are at risk of blindness.
The passage of S.B. 23-67, Khorram said, will open a larger pool of applicants, will solve the island’s physician shortage, and will allow MEI to quickly find a highly qualified ophthalmologist from outside the U.S. and Canada.
“We strongly support his legislation and respectfully urge swift passage. Without immediate action, the CNMI will be without an ophthalmologist, leading to irreversible vision loss for hundreds and the closure of Marianas Eye Institute, impacting its employees and their families,” Khorram said.
