In her letter to Villagomez, the senator said “some of the Rota nurses have failed to show up for their scheduled shifts, in part due to the lack of a contract.”
Taimanao said these nurses, who were hired by the Saipan Employment Agency & Services, were concerned that “without a contract, they may be held personally liable for any medical errors, a risk they are unwilling to take.”
Seven of the 11 nonresident nurses hired through SEAS stopped showing up for work since Friday. Yesterday, two of them reported for duty, Variety was told.
“They fear for their personal security if something wrong might happen if they continue to work without a binding contract,” a source from the health center said.
The health center has 14 nonresident nurses, of whom only three are directly hired.
The nursed hired through SEAS were asked by Rota Health Center director Crispin M. Ayuyu to continue providing their services at an hourly rate of $4.55 until a new contract could be drafted and signed.
SEAS paid the nurses $8.93 or $9.20 an hour.
Nurses directly hired by the CNMI government receive $16 to $18 an hour, or more.
Taimanao said the nurses are willing to sign a new contract but with the CNMI government and not with SEAS.
The nurses, a source told Variety, felt that they received “poor treatment” from SEAS, which has yet to be paid by the CNMI government.
The nurses have terminated their employment with SEAS.
Taimanao said they were assured by acting Gov. Eloy S. Inos that funding will be reprogrammed for the salaries of the nurses.
No work stoppage
A Tinian lawmaker, for his part, is confident that the 12 SEAS nurses assigned to the island’s health center will continue to work despite the nonpayment of a month’s worth of their salaries.
Republican Rep. Trenton B. Conner said this Friday, they’re “not sure” whether the nurses will get paid.
Previously, he said, the municipal government used the island’s poker fee collections to pay the nurses’ salaries, which were delayed for two months.
Sen. Henry H. San Nicolas, Covenant-Tinian, said they are not sure if the central government will replenish the island’s poker funds which, he added, are also intended for other municipal projects.
But San Nicolas said he is confident that the Tinian nurses will not abandon their posts.
He said the nurses are aware that CNMI and Tinian officials are addressing the problem.
In a separate interview, Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz, R-Tinian, said they may amend the law to allow for the direct hiring of nonresident nurses on Rota and Tnian.
“We’re also trying to do the best we can to maintain the delivery of health services by trying to get the needed funding,” Cruz said.
