As a volunteer, Maia has been providing consultancy and writing services to the health center since 2007.
She said she conducted an on-site inspection of the center but her reports and assessments were ignored.
“If the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service or U.S. Building Safety inspectors were to be alerted to the current state of THC, the building would be condemned,” she said.
The Tinian authorities had yet to reply to this reporter’s request for comments.
Political hires
The facility’s problems are compounded by management that has no knowledge or experience in running a health center because they are political hires, Maia said.
“The only good doctor they’ve had in the years I’ve been here was Terri Clawson, who is a physician’s assistant,” she said. But Clawson’s contract was not renewed because she was outspoken about THC’s condition, she added.
“Qualified doctors must be hired and paid a decent salary,” she said.
According to Maia, “I understand that the so-called ‘PA’ they have at THC now isn’t even certified or licensed as such. I’d like to see his qualifications and license made public, if he has any.”
She also questioned the qualifications of Raymond Dela Cruz, the Department of Public Health resident director and son of Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz.
Maia described the resident director’s performance as “poor to woeful.”
She said it may not be due to his lack of caring but could just be the result of not having any relevant training or experience.
“The people of Tinian deserve no less than do the people of Saipan, yet our available levels of care here are far, far lower than provided at the Commonwealth Health Center and farther still below the minimums allowed by any professional certification body, which prevents us from being eligible for federal funding,” she said.
“Until we can bring the physical plant and operations capability up to at least the minimum safety and health standards for a community clinic, we will not be eligible for any such financial aid,” she added.
Conditions
Maia said the following conditions existed at the time “I compiled the assessment last year and I have not been allowed to inspect the facility since then, to determine if any of them have been corrected.”
She said “these are only a few of the countless problems needing correction”:
• No hot water for a period of at least three years. Only one 70-gallon hot water heater, which has been inoperable.
• Its backup generator cannot power X-ray equipment.
• The backup generator does not turn on automatically when power goes out.
• The washing machine does not work well.
• The person in charge of hazardous material waste handling and disposal is only a trainee.
Recommendations
Maia said the THC facility must be improved so it can apply for Federally Qualified Health Center status.
No significant federal grants will be available, she added, as long as the clinic does not meet federal health center standards.
“All they got recently was some money to buy equipment, but to put new equipment into an unsafe and poorly run facility is the same as pouring the money down the drain,” she said.
“I am truly in despair over the shameful conditions that are allowed to continue at THC,” she added.
In an e-mail interview, Maia said she does not know why government officials are ignoring her recommendations.
“It seems incredible to me that none of them would even want to discuss my suggestions with me especially when I’ve provided for free what the consultant came up with, whom they’d paid almost $60,000, for essentially the same thing,” she told Variety.
She said her recommendations are practical and achievable.
“As for what can be done, much that I have already identified as needing correction/upgrading can be achieved at no expense, since it requires only proper management and operational practices be put into place. Much more can be done with minimal funding,” she said.
//
