Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos blasted yesterday top Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. officials for their absence in at least three health-related proclamation signings, questioning their sincerity and support for health programs.<\/p>\n
In a rather unusual address to a crowd gathered in the governor\u2019s conference room, Inos said if the governor or the lieutenant governor finds the time to sign proclamations related to health, so should top health officials.<\/p>\n
Roxanne Diaz, Public Health Services director at CHC, defended her superiors by saying that they, especially chief executive officer Juan N. Babauta, were working on the corporation budget. She also said CHC is at risk of not having a timely payroll.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here on their behalf,\u201d said Diaz, adding that she regrets CHC top officials\u2019 absence and understands Inos\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n
Inos, in response, said he and the governor also deal with finances and budget every day and still make time for scheduled proclamation signings.<\/p>\n
Diaz was the only CHC official present during yesterday morning\u2019s signing of a proclamation declaring January 2012 Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. The rest were employees, along with other administration officials and guests such as 2011 Miss Liberation Day Queen Joni Castro.<\/p>\n
Babauta, in a brief phone interview, said he was at the Legislature presenting the corporation\u2019s budget separately; first at the Senate then at the House. That was prior to the Legislature\u2019s post-Christmas lunch on Capital Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe director of Public Health was there to represent us. I was at the Legislature presenting our budget,\u201d Babauta told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
The proclamation signing was set for 9:30am but didn\u2019t start until a little after 10am.<\/p>\n
Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) confirmed that Babauta met with him to present the corporation\u2019s budget, and financial requests that include a $10 million revolving fund. He said the meeting was around 11am.<\/p>\n
Inos, in an interview after the proclamation signing, reiterated his concerns about the absence of top CHC officials. He said he and the governor also deal with the same issues that corporation officials deal with.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what goes down there\u2026I\u2019m sure they meet every day. This is probably the third proclamation [signing] that we had concerning health care. Like I said, they were conspicuously absent,\u201d Inos told reporters.<\/p>\n
In his proclamation, Inos urged all women in the CNMI to discuss a preventive and screening program with their healthcare provider and become aware that they are at risk of getting cervical cancer.<\/p>\n
CHC said \u201ctoo many women in the CNMI have died from cervical cancer.\u201d These were preventable deaths, it added.<\/p>\n
Cervical cancer can be prevented through screening and treatment of pre-cancerous conditions. It can also be prevented by the HPV vaccine.<\/p>\n
[B]\u2018Sacrifices, challenges\u2019[\/B]<\/p>\n
Inos said the year was full off challenges and sacrifices. He said the fact that many employees are getting paid only 64 hours instead of 80 hours biweekly was \u201csacrifice\u201d enough not only for themselves but for their families as well as the fiscal year 2012 budget stood only at $102 million from $122 million.<\/p>\n
The challenges were not confined to government employees. Even the private sector has cut work hours and reduced the number of their employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a challenge and we hope that we will be over that and we see some positive signs. More flights coming in, increased tourism activity, we hear about potential investments in the northern side of the island. Those are good signs. At least it tells you that people are still interested in investing,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
He said they will have a 2013 budget call next week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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