MHLO to patients: Follow hotel, hospital rules

Medical referral patients were urged yesterday to follow regulations at the hotel and medical facilities to which they are referred when they visit Hawaii for treatment.

The Marianas Hawaii Liaison Office said that it had received reports of repeated abuses by a number of previous medical referral patients who were accommodated at the Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“We at the MHLO are here to assist in making the stay of those under the program as comfortable and as convenient for them as they situate themselves temporarily in Honolulu,” MHLO said. “We only ask for everyone’s respectful compliance with the policies of the Medical Referral Program and those of the Pagoda Hotel and the medical facilities to which patients are referred to for their medical care.”

The hotel management also sent MHLO a reminder of universal room regulations underscoring the policy that each hotel room is limited to a number of occupants.

Furthermore, only registered guests are allowed to stay in the room after 7pm. Any other person, besides the official escort, who wished to remain in Pagoda hotel beyond 10pm, must arrange their accommodations with the hotel reservations clerk.

“This policy is in place foremost for the security and safety of all hotel guests by providing an accurate head count in the event of an emergency and for order on the premises,” the MHLO said.

The liaison office noted that this information is included in the packet handed by medical referral assistants to patients and their official escorts upon their arrival in Hawaii.

MHLO stressed that its hands were tied with regard to hotel regulations, as they were not an official matter relevant to the terms and conditions of the medical referral agreement.

“Respect and courtesy from MRP patients, their escorts, and their visiting friends and family members are to be demonstrated. To remove a patient, guest, and/or members of their party from the hotel property is a matter which MHLO cannot appeal for reconsideration as we consider our contract with the hotel a privilege and not a right. Therefore, should such an incident occur, MRP patients will have to find their own accommodations for the education of their medical care in Hawaii,” MHLO said.