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Health chief vows action on Nursing Board
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Posted on Jul 18 2008
After scores of complaints by nurses citing major delays in winning approvals for professional certifications by the Saipan Board of Nursing, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez promised action to improve its service.
“The complaints, coming from as far away as New York, really are being taken seriously and we are planning to address them,” Villagomez said in an interview Wednesday. “We cannot continue to tolerate this.”
The nursing board is tasked with regulating nurses’ professional accreditation and with giving them the approvals they need to work in hospitals elsewhere in the United States. However, government sources say the board is suffering from a severe staffing shortage and a host of other organizational problems. Consequently, many nurses that seek approvals from the board are forced wait long periods for a response.
Erwin Bedia, the sister of one nurse seeking a license renewal from the board, said her efforts to get answers from its offices have seen countless roadblocks. “I’ve tried now for three months,” she said in an e-mail. “The Saipan Board of Nursing caters to numerous nurses all over United States and, being a professional office, this behavior is not acceptable.”
Villagomez confirmed that the primary problem the board faces now is staffing and to resolve it, the board’s offices will soon be moved closer to those of the Department of Public Health so its staff can share the board’s workload.
“This kind of treatment cannot continue,” Villagomez said. “People have paid to get their nursing licenses here and we have to address these claims and give them results. We’re really looking into this issue.”
Meanwhile, the Health Care Professions Licensing Board announced Friday it will hold its regular monthly board meeting on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 3:00pm on Saipan. The meeting will be at Secretary’s Conference Room 2 in the Dr. Jose T. Villagomez Center for Public Health and Dialysis Center on Lower Navy Hill.
