“We’re not using the word ‘oversight’ but we’re requesting information from the [Public Health] secretary so we can resolve public health issues — the committee wants to hear their response, that’s why we gave them until June 19. We want to give them ample time to respond,” Committee Chairman Ralp DLG. Torres, R-Saipan, said in an interview on Friday.
He said he is also requesting members of the community to submit their comments to the committee.
“We want to know how they feel about the conditions at the hospital and the delivery of healthcare itself.”
You may call Torres’ office at 664-8923, fax 664-8926 or e-mail [email protected].
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, in a separate interview, said the House wants to look into the status of Public Health’s “critical staff.”
“There is this highly qualified individual kicked out basically from Public Health, Lynn Tenorio,” he said. “It’s really unfortunate that we invest in our local people and then we put them aside. Then there’s the resignation of the chief medical officer and the nephrologist. We have 120 dialysis patients and to not have a full-time nephrologist is unacceptable.”
Torres said Public Health assured him that the Commonwealth Health Center will have a new nephrologist in the first week of this month.
He said the committee wants to know what are the reasons behind the resignations of key hospital personnel.
“Rumors are going around and we want to find out if they are true — we’re on a fact-finding mission.”
Torres said CHC’s new dialysis center, inaugurated two years ago, is still not operating.
“We want to hear from Public Health — what are their plans to address the public’s concerns?”
Palacios said the $18 million dialysis center, which was federally funded, “wasn’t operational on the day its ribbon was cut.”
He added, “The committee wants to find out what happened. I heard [Public Health] needed to retrofit [the center] again because the way it was built didn’t meet federal standards. That’s crazy — somebody screwed up completely and public funds were squandered.”
Torres said following the hearing, his committee will come out with a report “so that the public will know what is the status of their hospital. We want to assure the community that the House is addressing these issues and we will not stop until these are resolved.”
