Bill to authorize CHCC charitable foundation gets unanimous House support
The House of Representatives unanimously passed yesterday a bill that would authorize the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. to organize and assist in establishing a charitable foundation.
With all 19 House members present voting “yes,” House Bill 23-87, House Substitute 1, now goes to the Senate for action. Rep. Vicente Camacho (D-Saipan) was absent, but excused from the session.
Several spoke in the public comments portion of the session to support the bill, including CHCC chief strategy officer Eleonor Cabrera, Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Joe Guerrero, Saipan Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Alex Sablan, CHCC deputy chief medical officer Dr. Martin Rohringer, and CHCC chief operations officer for business and quality assurance.
Before the voting, Rep. Malcolm J. Omar (Ind-Saipan), who is the author of the bill, thanked Cabrera, the CHCC management, and the House legal counsel for their review, recommendations, and revisions.
The bill states that establishing an affiliated foundation will allow CHCC to increase access to capital for investment in local health care capacity. Omar said the bill restores the authority of CHCC to participate in the creation of an independent, affiliated charitable foundation that may benefit health care.
He describes the foundation as a powerful vehicle for channeling investment into pivotal areas such as new program development, technological upgrades, facility improvements, and the expansion of essential services.
The House adopted the House Ways and Means Committee report that recommends the passage of the legislation.
Rep. Ralph N. Yumul (Ind-Saipan), who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, said the amendments the committee did on the bill include an additional corporate power that will authorize CHCC to participate and assist in the creation of an independent charitable foundation that operates for the primary benefit of improving healthcare within CHCC.
He said the charitable foundation shall be governed separately from CHCC.
Except for one CHCC trustee, the board of directors for the foundation shall not include any active employees or trustees of CHCC.
Yumul said the CHCC chief executive officer or a designee may serve as a nonvoting member of the foundation’s board.
Malcolm J. Omar
