Delay in CHC’s housing allowance now on its third month

Commonwealth Health Center staff are dismayed after failing anew to get their monthly housing benefits yesterday, the third straight month that they were not given the allowance.

Hospital employees told Saipan Tribune that the three-month delay is so far the longest they have had to wait for their housing allowance, which is $600 for single staffers and $800 for those with families.

The CHC housing benefit is accorded only to off-island hires-majority of whom are doctors and nurses-and was provided by the CNMI government for several years.

An employee, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said yesterday that they understand the situation of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. with its lack of funds but they are also worried about how this lack of housing benefit is impacting their budgets.

A longtime registered nurse at CHC confided that she has been forced to adjust her monthly expenses to include her housing expense of $500, on top of utility bills.

Saipan Tribune learned that new nurses at the hospital earn $13 per hour, while those who have been there for many years get up to $22 per hour.

Another employee who has been with CHC for five years now shared that the delay in their housing allowance hurts them more now compared to when there were still no austerity measures.

Due to declining resources, the government has stopped paying for holidays and night differential fees for hospital employees.

“With the delay of the housing allowance, we are truly experiencing difficulty in adjusting our budget,” the employee said.

Assurance

The corporation’s chief executive officer, Juan N. Babauta, issued a memorandum on Feb. 6 explaining the corporation’s financial dilemma and admitting that it cannot meet for now all its financial obligations to employees. Babauta reassured them, however, that the corporation will honor its contractual obligation to all employees.

In his memo, Babauta cited the corporation’s serious shortfall in the areas of cash, housing benefits, materials, and operating expenses. This shortfall, he said, is the result of the corporation’s “undercapitalization” as it transitions from the former Department of Public Health. The corporation was only allocated $5 million in seed money when it took over in October 2011.

Babauta said the organization has several ongoing efforts that aim to secure financial resources for the corporation. “Unfortunately, none of these efforts are going to yield solutions overnight. While we do foresee positive improvements in cash flow, we cannot predict when those resources will be available and in what amount,” he said.

“But for the meantime, I wanted to reassure each of you that the corporation is aware of its contractual obligation both internally and externally and the corporation will continue to meet this obligation as financial resources become available.”

Greener pastures

Some employees are already expressing plans of seeking better opportunities elsewhere. They said the housing perk was among the factors that attracted them to work in the CNMI’s public hospital in the first place.

In an earlier interview, corporation officials said that the housing allowance is among the areas they may cut or terminate if financial challenges continue at the hospital. This plan was not welcomed by hospital employees when first made public.