Tinian loses full-time doctor
With the recent resignation of Dr. Ronaldo Toledo, Tinian Health Center will only have a medical doctor on weekends until a replacement is hired full time.
Toledo resigned unexpectedly last week, leaving the facility without a full-time doctor, said Alexander Gorman, Department of Public Health legal counsel.
The facility is only required to have a medical doctor 30 percent of the time. A nurse practitioner and physician’s assistant are working full time at the Center.
“At this point, [the Center] is meeting legal requirements,” Gorman said.
The Center is trying to fill the position immediately, he said.
Gorman said the lack of a full-time doctor would not change patient care.
“Any major problems are shipped [to Saipan],” he added.
Gorman said doctors from Saipan would continue to go to Tinian Friday through Sunday until a replacement is found.
H. Christine Brown, a family practice doctor from Saipan, traveled to Tinian over the weekend to provide care.
Gorman said he is unsure if Brown, who was a doctor at Island Medical Center at one time, will return this weekend or if another doctor will travel to the island. (KRISTI EATON)
