Some hospital vendors are finally getting paid

The Fitial administration confirmed yesterday the transfer of $1.7 million from the Commonwealth Development Authority to the Department of Finance to address the immediate needs of the Commonwealth Health Center, which is under a state of emergency.

Press secretary Angel A. Demapan confirmed the fund’s transfer with the Saipan Tribune yesterday.

“Yes, the funds have been transferred to the Department of Finance and the department has already paid out most of the funds to first pay the most pressing needs of the hospital such as lab reagents, pharmaceuticals, and hemodialysis supplies,” he said.

Esther Muña, acting deputy secretary for hospital administration, said yesterday that CHC has already made some payments to its vendors and is currently reviewing a list of those who need to be paid now. She pointed out, though, that CHC needs about $3 million to be able to pay all unpaid obligations to vendors and suppliers.

The administration earlier said that the reprogramming of $1.7 million from CDA will prevent the hospital from shutting down its doors to patients. The amount represents the interest income generated by CDA from the $140 million bond that was floated by the CNMI government in 1990s.

By statute, any interest income from the bond requires the Legislature’s appropriation but, in case of emergencies, the administration has the authority to use the money where it is needed most. That was what happened on July 25, when then acting governor Eloy Inos found out that the hospital lacks immediate supplies and services because of unpaid obligation to vendors. He declared a state of emergency for CHC, along with Tinian and Rota health centers.

The declaration allowed Inos to suspend all statutory or regulatory provisions and gave him the ability to reprogram available and authorized resources to address the emergency.

Yesterday, Demapan described as premature the idea of extending the emergency declaration at CHC.

“At this point, it’s premature to talk about whether the declaration will be extended or not. The bottom line is that the declaration will remain in effect as long as the need to safeguard people’s access to healthcare is there,” said Demapan.

The Legislature earlier alerted the Executive Branch to the serious condition of the hospital, which lacked medical supplies and 21 different kinds of reagents necessary for tests such as etoh, carbamazapine, cultures (except blood), and creatinine.

CHC’s emergency room also lacks physicians and those who are available are being hampered by the lack of important diagnostic tests such as CBC, cultures, lytes, kidney tests, and heart attack tests.