Variety learned that some members of the community had sought approval for medical referral applications from the governor’s office only to be referred to the Commonwealth Health Center’s medical referral office.
In an interview on Tuesday, Demapan said the processing of medical referrals remain the same even though a healthcare corp. now runs he hospital.
He said the medical referral program and Medicaid were placed under the governor’s office as a matter of “organizational structure.”
“But that does not change the way the medical referral office does its business. The only things that would change are internal matters like financial accounts because the Department of Public Health no longer exists,” he said.
The processing of applications are still done by the medical referral office at CHC, he added.
He said the medical referral committee composed of physicians are the ones who still work with other physicians and decide on applications.
Those who need medical referral should go to the medical referral office, not to the governor’s office, Demapan added.
“It‘s not something that has to come up here,” he said.
The governor’s office, he added, basically serves as the medical referral program’s “new home” since the creation of the healthcare corporation last month.
