The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned the Rota Health Center for improperly dumping its biohazard waste at the open dump on the island, according to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. board.
\nCHCC board vice chair Pete Dela Cruz, who is the Rota representative on the board, said this improper disposal of the clinic\u2019s garbage has been going on for quite some time now.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long period of time, the RHC has been disposing of these items at the public dump and when EPA found out, they were advised to stop this practice immediately as it is an environmental concern as well as hazardous should someone step on it. It could also lead to an expensive lawsuit for the corporation,\u201d Dela Cruz said.<\/p>\n
He said the clinic has been advising the corporation of the need to repair or replace its autoclave so it could properly dispose of syringes and other sharp implements but this has not been acted upon to date.<\/p>\n
An autoclave is a device used to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high-pressure saturated steam.<\/p>\n
At last week\u2019s board meeting, interim CEO Esther Mu\u00f1a reported that the improper waste disposal at RHC was raised to the management\u2019s attention the week before March 12. Mu\u00f1a said the corporation\u2019s infection control unit has been directed to work with RHC to address this concern. In the meantime, all biohazard waste at RHC are being temporarily stored until a solution is identified.<\/p>\n
Dela Cruz emphasized yesterday the need to take immediate corrective measures to ensure that RHC is equipped to properly dispose of its waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, RHC is storing syringes\/sharp blades needing proper disposal at a secure place and it is piling,\u201d he said, describing the problem as a serious matter that past and current managements have failed to act on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that CHCC is taking this situation as urgent and that the RFP is now being processed for immediate purchase [of an autoclave],\u201d said Dela Cruz.<\/p>\n
X-ray machine<\/strong><\/p>\n Dela Cruz also disclosed the \u201cdilapidated\u201d condition of the center\u2019s x-ray machine.<\/p>\n He said that \u201cI have been barking on this issue\u201d since he began serving on the board, to no avail.<\/p>\n Mu\u00f1a assured Dela Cruz, however, that RHC\u2019s need for an x-ray machine will be prioritized with the expected arrival of hospital equipment from the Guam Naval Hospital.<\/p>\n Mu\u00f1a even promised that if in case an x-ray machine is not among the equipment the military hospital will bring in, this will be included on the priority listing of equipment to be procured under the $1.7 million funds secured from CIP monies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned the Rota Health Center for improperly dumping its…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[666,89,352,200],"class_list":["post-30177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-chcc","tag-cip","tag-epa","tag-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}