DPH: No truth to dissatisfaction among doctors

Stories of physicians resigning at the Commonwealth Health because of dissatisfaction with the hospital’s administration were refuted by Public Health Medical Affairs director Robin Shearer on Wednesday, saying they are “totally untrue.”

In an interview with the Saipan Tribune, Shearer said that none of the doctors who have recently resigned expressed discontent with the current administration.

“None of the physicians leaving have left for reasons other than personal and none have left because of problems with the administration,” he said.

Shearer issued the denial in reaction to a radio commentary that was aired last weekend and was replayed again on Wednesday, during which it was alleged that the resignations were prompted by dissatisfaction with the hospital administration.

Shearer said CHC would have a total of 33 physicians this August, slightly down from the original number of 40. He said these physicians work at all the medical units of the hospital save for the Emergency Room. Shearer said among the eight physicians in ER, two would be remaining after mid-August.

He admitted, though, that five physicians resigned in May this year but not all at the same time. “Starting May until August, there are people leaving,” he said.

Shearer said the reasons for the resignations are varied. He said one doctor left because her one-year contract had already ended and she needed to return to the U.S. mainland.

He said another had been in the CNMI for the past four years but had to go back to a hospital in Canada or lose a position she previously had there. Another physician had a family problem that prevented her from extending her tenure on Saipan.

Shearer said it is not only in ER where they will incur a shortage of physicians but also in Obstetrics, Internal Medicine, and Anesthesia due to several problems in the recruiting process for physicians to the CNMI. One of these is the current shortage of physicians in North America, especially in the United States and Canada.

“We hear the same stories from the recruiting agencies that we use,” he said.

ON RECRUITMENT DILEMMA

Shearer said the CNMI is allowed to hire only those physicians who were trained in the U.S. or Canada and this restriction limits the CHC’s hiring options.

“We cannot recruit from anywhere. We can recruit other nationalities but they should have their post-graduate studies either in the U.S. or Canada,” he said.

He said the effects of 9/11 also have been a factor in the recruitment of new doctors for the CNMI, as well as the continuing decline in the buying power of the U.S. dollar.

Shearer admitted that the CNMI could not match the salaries given to medical doctors in the mainland. He said people came to the CNMI not because of compensation, but for the conducive and healthy living atmosphere on the island. “That [reason] has becomes less attractive nowadays due to the [high] cost of travel and living,” he said.

He learned from one of their recruiters that Canadian emergency physicians are making three times as much as they would earn here. “We have greatly relied on Canadian physicians because previously Canadian physicians’ salaries were lower than their U.S. counterparts,” he said.

One of the problems, Shearer said, that contributes to the decline in the number of doctors in the CNMI is that physicians here have no overtime pay since their salaries are fixed. He said extra work other than the required number of work hours becomes just part of regular duty.

“So a lot of ER people in the mainland are paid by the hour, [while] here, they’re not,” he said.

Guam ER physicians are making $97 per hour and Hawaii ER physicians are making more than that, he said.

Professional development is also a benefit in other countries, said Shearer. CHC’s package to physicians does not include paid training and further studies.

As of the moment, Public Health is utilizing seven recruiting agencies. He said that, when a Canadian agency finds a suitable candidate, it would cost DPH $15,000 per hire in addition to the actual salary. They opted to go with Canadian agencies because U.S. ones cost $25,000 per hire. “Some of the agencies are paid even more and that’s the going rate and we cannot match that because of our budget.”