Senate confirms four of Torres’ appointees

Former House speaker Pedro R. Deleon Guerrero, seventh from left, and Dr. Glenda S. George-Concepcion, 10th from left, join members of the Legislature and their friends for a group photo after their Senate confirmation last Friday at the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill. (Jon Perez)

The Senate last week confirmed the appointments of Dr. Glenda S. George-Concepcion, Benjamin Petersburg, and Jovano Q. Taitano and the re-appointment of former House speaker Pedro R. Deleon Guerrero to various government posts.

George-Concepcion will be a member of the Health Care Professional Licensing board while Petersburg would serve under the Commonwealth Development Authority’s board of directors and Taitano would be a part of the Professional Licensing board.

Deleon Guerrero, the speaker of the 7th Legislature, was re-appointed as a member of the Marianas Public Land Trust.

Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz (R-Tinian), chairman of the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, endorsed the committee reports based on the public hearings the six-member body held for each appointees.

George-Concepcion holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and trained and practiced mostly in Seattle, Washington. Her post-doctorate practice was at Madigan Army Medical Center where she worked with active U.S. Armed Forces personnel.

Madigan is inside the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington and is one of the largest military hospitals in the West Coast.

George-Concepcion also worked as a contractor at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Seattle before returning to Saipan two years ago. She now works at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. where she oversees and supervises the clinical programs of the Commonwealth Guidance Center.

George-Concepcion said although she’s a novice when it comes the licensing board, she’s confident her years as a clinician and a program director for CGC are enough for her to perform her duties.

“I’m ready to work and collaborate with the other members of the board and look out for the common good of the people, guided by the laws and standards of practice and highest integrity of the Health Care Professions Licensing Board,” said George-Concepcion.

“I am looking forward to helping the board in areas where we are faced with challenges and assist them in building the board’s capacity and duties without compromising the quality of healthcare,” she added.

Deleon Guerrero, meanwhile, thanked the administration for their confidence and trust for re-appointing him to the MPLT board.

“We will pursue the mandate of MPLT where all public lands belong to people of the CNMI who are of Northern Marianas descent as stated on the Constitution. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done.”

He added that he would discuss with the other MPLT board members the concerns of the NMDs. “We will particularly work with the Legislature on how to address the concerns of the people. It has to be between the trustees, our advisors, and working closely with the Legislature to make things possible.”