Under Public Law 16-51, which Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed in January, the corporation will run the Commonwealth Health Center and the islands’ public health system.
The corporation will assume the duty of the Department of Public Health.
The governor has to appoint four of the seven members of the corporation’s board of trustees.
The three other members will be selected by the corporation’s healthcare professionals.
In an interview on Friday, Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Ralph DLG. Torres, R-Saipan, said the administration had not nominated anyone to serve on the corporation’s board.
“We need to act as soon as possible,” the senator said.
A board, he added, will allow a more autonomous CNMI healthcare system that can seek additional federal funding.
Torres is not sure why the administration has not identified nominees for the board.
The administration, he added, should start working with the Senate now.
Sen. Frank Q. Cruz, R-Saipan, said the healthcare board is an urgent matter, adding that the Senate is ready to act quickly on the governor’s nominations to the corporation.
Cruz chairs the Senate Executive Appointments and Government Investigation. He has vowed to block the governor’s nominees to other board and commissions unless Fitial considers the recommendations of Tinian and Rota.
Late
Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan said based on their discussions with the Department of Public Health it was determined that the transition process will take longer than what is prescribed by the law.
He said this is due in part to the strenuous process of closing out the financial books of the Commonwealth Health Center.
Also, the administration wants to ensure that the hospital’s outstanding payables and receivables are satisfied before the transition happens, he added.
“This, along with other concerns on certain provisions in the statute, has given rise to the need to seek legislative assistance in introducing legislation that would extend the transition period and make necessary amendments to the existing law,” Demapan said.
The administration, he added, has met with some members of the Legislature to discuss these concerns “along with the proposals that would remedy the barriers in transitioning the health center into a corporation.”
