Federal help sought in proposed medical center

The chief executives of four Micronesian territories have agreed to seek federal funding to put up a regional medical center on Guam, which would drastically lower the cost of medical referrals incurred by the CNMI.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta said healthcare has been placed among the top priorities at the two-day 3rd Western Micronesian Chief Executives’ Summit, which concluded Wednesday.

Babauta, together with Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Yap Gov. Robert Ruecho and Palau President Tommy Remengesau, supported the proposed establishment of the Pan-Micronesian Regional Medical Center.

The Babauta administration has been exploring ways to cut down the cost of medical referrals, which amount to millions of dollars annually. The cost of referring patients to Hawaii facilities is more costly than sending them to Guam. The CNMI Department of Public Health’s medical referral program has listed 15 accredited health care providers on Guam, 12 in Hawaii, and three in Manila.

“The chief executives agreed to support the sharing of information on blood, medication and equipment needs and to jointly negotiate, where appropriate, with suppliers for price benefits, delivery schedules, payment terms, etc.,” stated a joint communiqué reached by the leaders.

The leaders also endorsed the conduct of a regional medical symposium in September to allow for the networking of various healthcare concerns shared by the islands. The Guam Medical Society and the Guam Memorial Hospital may host the conference.

The leaders underscored the need to enhance medical workforce development by locally training healthcare providers through their health departments, medical facilities, and learning institutions, as well as those of the nation.

The summit also resulted in an agreement for a possible establishment of regional medical licensing requirements.

“To address the need for a uniform regional certification and licensing system, the chief executives agreed to support a meeting of each government’s Board of Medical Examiners to develop a Memorandum of Understanding on regional licensing requirements,” the communiqué stated.

Besides prioritizing healthcare, the leaders also listed among its concerns regional cooperation in the fields of environment, tourism, education, transportation, and telecommunications.

Babauta’s press secretary, Pete Callaghan, earlier said the leaders discussed regional tourism promotions at major Asian travel fairs, as well as regional recycling of metals and better control of the fishing industry.

The summit floated ideas such as the establishment of a regional committee on telecommunications “to have more authority when petitioning the Federal Communications Committee on regional inclusion in communications policy.”