CHC board approves scrapping employees’ housing allowance

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. board has approved scrapping the housing allowance it provides its employees who were hired from outside the CNMI.

However, because the board serves only as an advisory body to the chief executive officer, Juan N. Babauta will still have the final say on the matter.

CHC board chair Joaquin Torres disclosed to Saipan Tribune yesterday that the board voted to discontinue the housing benefit by Oct. 30 this year, primarily due to the tight fiscal situation of the organization, which is still in a state of emergency.

The hospital provides a $600 monthly housing allowance to single employees and $800 to those with families as part of the benefit package provided to off-island hires. To date, the corporation is behind by five months in paying this benefit to employees.

Documents obtained by Saipan Tribune show that the hospital spends about $1.2 million a year to provide the housing allowance to over 200 personnel, mostly nurses hired from the Philippines. This translates to about $134,000 a month.

Torres said that CHC acknowledges it still owes its employees several months’ worth of housing allowance and that this obligation will be paid once money becomes available.

Since most employment contracts at CHC are up for renewal by November, Torres said that Babauta would decide if he wants the housing allowance or a portion of it be carried over to the salary package of the employee.

“Everything [about the housing allowance] will now depend on the CEO per negotiation with individual employee. But the main purpose of the board’s decision is to entirely eliminate the ‘housing allowance’ on their paychecks,” Torres told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

The board’s decision, Torres added, conforms with the legal advice provided by the Office of the Attorney General.

Nurses still hopeful

Nursing director Leticia Reyes yesterday expressed optimism that Babauta will consider the benefit that would be lost among affected employees. She revealed that the nurses’ housing allowance represents 25 percent of their monthly take-home pay.

Reyes said she has not been made aware of the board’s decision but, in case it is final and executory, the nursing department has to make the necessary preparations for its impact.

As of yesterday, Reyes’ department had 155 nurses-down from 167 in January. By the end of this month, seven nurses are scheduled to leave. By July, the hospital expects to have only 146 nurses, going down to 133 by end of October.

Reyes described the 133 expected nurses’ count in coming months as “very critical,” citing its impact on the delivery of nursing care.

Reyes said their recruitment efforts continue and have identified 24 potential new hires-mostly nonresidents recruited on-island-who are awaiting approval from federal immigration.

The housing allowance was last suspended in 2009. That resulted in a large number of off-island hires accepting jobs in other states. The numerous resignations prompted the restoration of the allowance.