Public health programs relocated due to loss of power

Clinics and offices under the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s Division of Public Health and the Community Guidance Center were immediately relocated yesterday morning from their Upper Navy Hill site to available spaces at the Commonwealth Health Center due to unexpected disconnection of their power and water supplies.

Public Health Services director Roxanne Diaz, along with her staff, were seen setting up their “new offices” in various areas of the hospital when visited yesterday morning.

Diaz said they immediately issued yesterday a public announcement about the transfer of their services to minimize, if not avert, any impact on patients.

Starting yesterday, the HIV/STD resource and treatment center is now at the Family Care Clinic in the new dialysis center.

Bureau of Environmental Health staffer Lily Kapileo was seen accommodating clients at the window of the hospital’s dental clinic.

Diaz said the bureau’s sanitary permits and food handler certificates will temporarily hold office in the dental clinic while the food handlers training will be done at the CHC cafeteria. The cafeteria has been closed since October last year as part of cost-cutting measures.

Four offices and clinics of the Community Guidance Center were also transferred to the hospital. The center’s addiction services is now at the old Family Care Clinic, located next to the laboratory of the main hospital. Yesterday’s scheduled group counseling was done at the N5 Building on Upper Navy Hill. All other sessions will be held at the hospital cafeteria.

The center’s Victims Services and all outpatient Behavioral Health Clinical Services were transferred to the Transitional Living Center while the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is temporarily housed at the public health administration office across the gift shop, along with the center’s administrative office.

Diaz, who described the disconnection and relocation as sudden, told Saipan Tribune that no services were stopped or affected because their staff immediately acted.

“As soon as we found out that we’re disconnected, we immediately responded and quickly identified all the different sites to make sure that services will not be affected and will continue because our priority is the people we’re serving,” she said.

She could not say when power will be restored to the affected offices.

“The upside of this [situation], we tested the system out and how fast people responded.and I have to commend our staff for responding accordingly,” she said.

According to Diaz, the corporation-as a way to save on costs-had actually already decided to transfer some public health offices to the CHC. Yesterday’s relocation, she said, was just a little sooner than scheduled.

Of all the services being run on Upper Navy Hill, Diaz said that the HIV office and the Bureau of Environmental Health will most likely be retained there, while the rest will be transferred to new sites.

“We’re still assessing options, but most likely HIV and BEH will go back [to Upper Navy Hill],” she said.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. started disconnecting various non-critical offices of both the Public School System and the healthcare corporation due to nonpayment of their bills, amounting to $4.1 million for PSS and $2.1 million for CHC.