PCB tests: Extra health care at no cost

While at the clinic, physicians will conduct basic or primary physical examinations, perhaps savings lives and catching serious health problems in people who would not normally see a doctor. No prescriptions are issued from the clinic doctors. Rather, the patients will be referred to the regular DPH clinics, if other health problems are detected. “We may find patients that have serious heart problems, and they’d die from those problems before PCBs would harm them, so we want to provide total care, protecting the health of the people-this is the Governor’s mandate to me,” Villagomez repeatedly vowed.

Who is supposed to come to the clinic and when?

The Tanapag PCB Clinic is open to all Tanapag residents, for anyone who lived in Tanapag for a total of three years from 1968 through today, or whose mother lived there while pregnant. (If you lived in Tanapag at different times, different years, off and on, totaling up to a period of three years, the doctors want to include you in the health screenings. Pregnant women and families are encouraged to come. in, and neighbors are encouraged to talk to among themselves, bringing the elderly or scared people along.)

The village map has been provided to residents. The area was divided into six regions, and each was assigned a color.

• Residents who live in the green-color coded area, southern Tanapag, are asked to report to the clinic today and tomorrow, May 9th and May 10th.

• Those who live in the section coded “yellow” report to the clinic on May 11th and 12th.

• Residents who live in the section that is colored “purple” are scheduled for clinic hours on Saturday, May 13th and on Monday, May 15th.

• For residents who live in the section of Tanapag that is coded “pink,” the clinic will be opened on May 16th.

• People who live in both the orange and blue-color coded areas are to report on May 17th.

• Former Tanapag residents, the children of mothers who lived in Tanapag for three or more years, those people who were off of the island, etc. are all to report to the clinic from May 18th, 19th, and 20th.

• The Tanapag Health Clinic will remain open until everyone who desires health screening has been seen, regardless of how long it takes, local doctors have been trained to carry on the work as federal officials depart Saipan.

• There is no charge for the services.

• The process will take approximately one to two hours, depending upon your health.

What happens inside the clinic?

Stage 1: Walk into the door and sign in. A file folder is developed for you.

Stage 2: This is the place where the workers gather the history about you and whether you might have been, or whether you are currently being exposed to PCB (based on what other federal agencies concluded about the soil). “Health Exposure” interviews are conducted. You are shown a map. You point to the place where you stay, work or grow food, where your kids play, and explain how many years you have been in Tanapag. There are five interview tables set up, so up to five people can be seen at the same time, making the process go fast.