DPH reopens Diabetes Center on Navy Hill

Two months after being shut down, the Department of Public Health’s Diabetes Control and Prevention Program office has been reopened on Navy Hill.

DPH deputy secretary for Lynn Tenorio confirmed that the Diabetes Center is back in business, just three months after its closure in July.

DPH had shut down the center and moved its operations back to the Commonwealth Health Center due to cost-cutting measures. Earlier reports said the move was made to alleviate the department’s financial problems.

“But now we’re back on Navy Hill because there has always been the need for information dissemination [on the disease],” Tenorio said.

She said community members who are suffering from diabetes could now visit the center for assistance and guidance. She said any individual that wants further information about the disease could visit the office on Navy Hill.

Tenorio said, though, that the center currently operates on a bare-bones budget. Only two staff members are retained at the center, led by Tanya Belyeu-Camacho. Electricity use is very minimal in the office and phone lines were also trimmed to the appropriate number.

Tenorio is inviting the community to drop by the center anytime. “All resources and materials related to diabetes are available there,” she said.

During its shut down in July, Tenorio said the program officers shared an office with DPH.

The Navy Hill facility serves as a resource center to raise the level of awareness on diabetes prevention and care and reduce the burden of diabetes complications in the CNMI.

The DPH and the CNMI Diabetes Prevention and Control Program inaugurated the Navy Hill facility in September 2005. It is intended to be the central location for diabetes prevention education and information on how to manage the illness.

Tenorio said the office exists to assist in identifying and connecting people with diabetes with other public agencies, community organizations, and health providers to further enhance diabetes care and management.

The construction of the center was in step with the Division of Public Health’s mission to develop a healthy community by promoting health and disease prevention, to continuously improve the health knowledge of the community members, and to foster teamwork among providers to give quality service to the community.

Asked if the temporary closure of the facility was related to DPH reportedly being the second most expensive government agency to operate, Tenorio was non-committal, but earlier said that, just like anywhere else in the world, health care does not come cheap.

“All I can say to that is that health care is really expensive, that’s why it’s important for us to put money in prevention programs. .We cannot sacrifice the health of the people [but] we also have to reduce cost,” she said.

Te Health Department also shut down a clinic in San Roque last June, again to save on costs. The San Roque clinic still remains closed today.

Tenorio said the department did an earlier assessment that resulted in the decision to close down the San Roque Clinic. She added that, based on the survey, the patients who visited San Roque mostly came from Kagman and Garapan.

Consequently, the patients from these areas could come to the hospital in Garapan instead. Tenorio said the San Antonio Clinic, though, is still open to the community members in that area.