Hospital’s doctors don’t just ‘guess,’ says Muña

Physicians at the Commonwealth Health Center are not merely guessing the illness of their patients, describing a media report (not in the Saipan Tribune) as “unfounded” and “unfair,” according to a senior public health official.

Esther Muña, deputy secretary for hospital administration and financial services administrator, stressed yesterday that all CHC physicians are qualified and are passionate about their jobs, rendering extra hours of work because they care for their patients. Despite the threat of payless paydays, Muña said that CHC doctors are opting to stay and serve the community.

The report, arising from a public hearing held Friday last week on Capitol Hill about the hospital’s operations and services, had stated that, due to the non-availability of diagnostic tests, doctors were just “guessing” their patients’ illness.

Muña said this is untrue.

“The statements made during the public hearing were taken out of context and labeling them is not only upsetting but demoralizing for our doctors,” Muna told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

She explained that laboratory tests are considered one of the less expensive tools that aid physicians in diagnosing patients. Other aids include radiological exams on top of reviewing history and old records, performing physical exams, and doing an overall assessment.

Without diagnostic tests, doctors “look for other aids of managing the patient treatment and that likely includes a more costly test or treatment and even extending the stay of the patients. But it’s not guessing or to confirm a guess,” Muña said.

If the doctors are unqualified and are not doing their jobs, these serious deficiencies will be easily identified and cited by Medicare, which does surveys and visits to the hospital, Muña said. “That’s one proof that we have capable and qualified doctors here at the hospital.”

CHC, along with Tinian and Rota Health Center, was placed under a state of emergency on Thursday due to the lack of many services and supplies, mainly because the hospital’s vendors were not getting paid. One of them is the Diagnostic Laboratory Services, which the hospital owes about $1 million.

According to Muña, DLS has been serving the hospital for more than 10 years through annual contracts amounting to close to $3 million yearly. As a referenced laboratory, specimens are brought to the company for testing. The contract was inked to ensure that all hospital patients would be served even if they are unable to pay.

Without the services provided by DLS, the hospital will be obliged to order tests and supplies to aid in the diagnosis—a process that Muña said is more costly for the cash-strapped hospital. This would also mean that patients who cannot afford to pay for the exams upfront would not get access to those tests.

Muña expressed optimism that the Executive Branch would come up with the $3 million the hospital needs so it could resume many services and buy more supplies for its laboratory.