Separation of CHC, Public Health eyed

The administration of Gov. Eloy S. Inos is looking at the possibility of separating the Commonwealth Health Center from the Division of Public Health and it appears a number of lawmakers are amenable to the plan.

CHCC board chair Jack Torres confirmed yesterday that there are indeed discussions on splitting up the hospital and the public health division.

He said he will be meeting with Inos today but added that he is not in favor of separating CHCC into two entities.

“There were talks about this so I am meeting the governor tomorrow. My position on this is that I would like to see both together,” Torres said.

“Status quo is preferred. I’d like to see that it remains under the corporation. Some members of the 19th Legislature want to see the two separated and I think the governor is leaning toward it. I want to explain to the governor to see that it remains as is. [CHCC chief executive officer] Esther Muña and I seem to be in the same agreement and we would like to see the two remain as is and once we’re basically settled down, we can discuss separation. But not at this time. My personal preference would be for DPH and the hospital to be as is,” Torres said.

He confirmed as well that there are still no concrete details about the proposal, like a possible legislation being introduced or an executive order being drafted.

Press secretary Ivan Blanco declined to comment.

Muña said yesterday evening that CHCC doesn’t support separating CHCC and DPH.

“One of the things we’re working on is the universal health insurance under the State Innovation Model grant and this takes into account the integration of DPH and the corporation,” Muña said.

The SIM grant takes advantage of the healthcare system model that CHCC has where public health, mental health, and the hospital are integrated in one agency.

“Public Health Service Corp. even recommended that they were actually very impressed about the universal insurance and that this is the kind of model everyone is looking into and it works better that way,” she said.

Muña said that in her meeting with Melissa Stafford Jones, the regional director for Region 9 under the Department of Health and Human Services, Jones said universal insurance through the SIM grant is the kind of model they want to see.

“Another thing is that if you really look at the other jurisdictions or states, one of the struggles they have is that public health and hospital have no integration due to miscommunication and coinciding responsibilities. With the limited funding we have, integration is the best model for it,” Muña said.

“When I discuss all kinds of issues with health, we can easily call upon the provider under Public Health. This just puts into perspective with us working together and we all have the same mission toward having better health for the people. It makes sense that the integration should stay and it is necessary,” she said.