Public Health reorganizes CGC, evaluates BEH

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has reorganized the functions of Community Guidance Center to address duplication of efforts, according to Division of Public Health director Roxanne Diaz.

Diaz also said Friday that the corporation is also conducting a full assessment on the Bureau of Environmental Health.

So far, she said, a total of 17 personnel have been affected by the newly enforced emergency workforce reduction which cut down eight employees at the dental clinic and nine employees at the CGC, which have been transferred to federally funded programs.

According to the public health director, there are only less than 20 employees who are receiving salary under local funds which translates to only about 10 percent of the 115 total employees working for the division.

She said 80-90 percent of all its personnel are federally funded while salaries of a few staff are from combined local and federal monies.

Diaz disclosed that in February, the corporation dissolved the CGC director post and split the services to the public health division and the hospital.

She said that the prevention side of CGC is now under Public Health such as the Brabu project, tobacco, and others. Given to hospital administration are services for victims advocate, behavioral, and clinical services, among others.

“The CGC director post is now dissolved because functions fall under the directors of public health division and the hospital administration,” she told Saipan Tribune, adding that because of the transfer of some CGC projects to the division such as Brabu project, federal grants assigned were also moved to the division.

According to Diaz, a full assessment and evaluation is now being conducted on the Bureau of Environmental Health, which has some 10 personnel.

BEH staffers, like the dental clinics and public health administrative staff, are being paid using local funds.

The evaluation aims to analyze how many employees are really needed at BEH versus the number of establishments being checked in a regular basis.

“We’re currently examining the need for actual staff based on the number of establishments,” she said.

The public health director also revealed that for the nine CGC personnel who were laid off effective this month, DPH is asking federal grantor agencies to allow an increase in their personnel count to save not only the personnel but the services they handled.

Diaz is optimistic citing the positive feedback from these agencies.

The division, she said, was in fact successful in transferring four locally funded personnel to federal programs: two each from Rota and Tinian.

Diaz said as long as federal monies do not supplant local funding, granting agencies assured the division that grants will continue for the existing programs.

“So far, in our communication with our grantor agencies they assured us that as long as we’re not operating as a private corporation, we’re in good standing [with our federal grants],” said Diaz, adding that meeting the maintenance of effort requirement on this program is important to keep the funds flowing.