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CHC seeks ties with Japanese hospitals
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Posted on Jul 31 2008
Representatives of the Aichi Children’s Hospital in Nagoya, Japan, are meeting with officials from the Commonwealth Health Center and Gov. Benigno Fitial today to discuss a planned partnership between the two hospitals.
The Aichi Hospital representatives will visit CHC today. Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said he hopes a delegation of CHC officials will visit the Nagoya hospital soon to look at the facility.
CHC signed a partnership with Aichi in response to concerns that pediatric patients were not able to make the flight to the United States or Manila to receive specialized treatment. CHC also recently signed an agreement with Nagoya City University Hospital for adult medical treatment.
“It’s for just really, really serious cases that need to get to a hospital facility immediately,” Villagomez said.
Previously, pediatric patients were sent to San Diego, California. Transporting to Japan costs about a third of what it costs to send patient to San Diego, he said.
But, ultimately, Villagomez said, the change came about because it was taking patients too long to get the help they needed.
With recent airline cutbacks, patients were forced to go through Guam to travel to many major hospitals. To fly to Honolulu, where the closest U.S. hospital is located, it took seven to eight hours.
“That’s very taxing to the body,” he added.
It is also easier for family members to visit patients in Japan, he said.
CHC has sent three babies to Nagoya in the past two years and will probably send a fourth soon, Villagomez said. One of the reasons Aichi was chosen was because there are daily flights from Saipan to Nagoya.
The major drawback with using Japanese hospitals is insurance. Japan does not recognize the same medical insurance, Villagomez said, so the government must front the payment in order for the patient to receive treatment. Monetary details are then worked out with patients and insurance companies, which, Villagomez said, “can be tedious at best.” Because the hospitals are going out of their way to offer the services, it’s important they are paid “within a timely basis,” Villagomez said. “We can not have them waiting around.”
