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CHCC abolition bill shelved
After a “fruitful” meeting between House vice speaker Janet U. Maratita (R-Saipan) and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. management last Thursday, the bill to abolish the corporation and its newly established governing board has been shelved.
Maratita told Saipan Tribune last week that, after a meeting between her, Rep. Alice Igitol (R-Saipan), CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña, and other CHCC management officials, it was agreed to shelve House Bill 20-149.
In a statement, Maratita said she was pleased that the meeting was able to address challenges of both CHCC patients and CHCC employees.
“[Muña and I] both share the ultimate goal of enhancing healthcare services to all CNMI residents and have pledged to continue a working dialogue to achieve this goal,” Maratita said, adding that she looks forward to more discussions to “ensure that the people we serve receive the quality healthcare they deserve.”
Muña did not immediately respond when asked to comment.
In introducing the bill to abolish CHCC as a corporation and its governing board as well as reinstate the Department of Public Health under the Governor’s Office, Maratita had blamed CHCC’s alleged failure to comply with reporting requests as well as CHCC’s reported lack of transparency.
Last Feb. 1, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres wrote to Maratita, urging her to defer action on the bill to give the governing board some time to exercise its authority to fulfill the “shared goal of improving health outcomes and accountability” for CHCC.
“I have great faith in [the CHCC board] to undertake a thorough and diligent review of the management of the hospital and will act upon their decisions in a manner that will safeguard the day-to-day operations of the corporation,” he had said.
In a statement last Jan. 26, 2018, Sen. Sixto K. Igisomar (R-Saipan) warned of the possible consequences on CNMI healthcare if there were sudden changes to its structure.
“…We must know what it is that we want or what performances are lacking so we can know how to better organize or which person can better manage or run our hospital, all for accountability and transparency,” he said.
