The chief medical officer of the Commonwealth Health Center resigned early this week, claiming personal reasons for leaving.<\/p>\n
Dr. Divya Sharma said she submitted her letter of resignation last Monday, May 11, to the office of Public Health Secretary Kevin Villagomez.<\/p>\n
Sharma said that Pedro T. Untalan, the Deputy Secretary for Hospital Administration, is already aware of her impending departure.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from both Villagomez and Untalan yesterday but they have yet to respond to the e-mail request.<\/p>\n
Sharma said it\u2019s about time for her family to go back to the U.S. mainland.<\/p>\n
She said her husband, Michael Thomas, is also ready to submit his resignation today. Thomas, who is on sick leave, works as a Systems Administrator for DPH.<\/p>\n
Sharma said it is extremely sad for them to leave, especially at this time when the Commonwealth Health Center is lacking personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just that we have to go. It\u2019s purely personal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
HRSA scholar<\/p>\n
A recent article on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website had featured Dr. Sharma as a product of an HRSA scholarship. <\/p>\n
In exchange for a two-year scholarship for University of New Mexico Medical School from the National Health Service Corps she agreed to work in an area with a great shortage of health care providers, in this case Saipan. After medical school, she completed her residency in Internal Medicine from the University of Virginia and moved to the CNMI. <\/p>\n
She and her family\u2014a husband and two young children\u2014moved to Saipan more than two years ago. <\/p>\n
The article can be accessed at http:\/\/www.hrsa.gov\/ourStories\/sharma.shtm.<\/p>\n
Short-staffed<\/p>\n
The CNMI\u2019s lone hospital is currently having problems in hiring medical staff. Currently, it only has one general surgeon instead of two and it has no nephrologist, or kidney doctor.<\/p>\n
Insiders said that by June 1, there would only be three internists when there should be eight.<\/p>\n
Sharma said the family is planning to leave by the middle of next month.<\/p>\n
DPH is actively recruiting another fulltime general surgeon for CHC.<\/p>\n
DPH is having difficulty in its recruitment because of several issues like the CNMI\u2019s remote location and the smaller salary it offers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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