All questions answered; officials stand by to answer any further questions
The Governor and Guam Memorial Hospital officials are grateful for the Legislature’s obvious support for GMH and willingness to hear and consider administration proposals for improvement.
“They had a hearing last night on Sen. Rodriguez’s bill and they even allowed us to speak with them about the construction and modernization projects we want to undertake at GMH,” Governor Calvo said. “I thought the senators asked very thoughtful questions. They were critical of GMH finances and how our bond proposal would be paid for. Because of that, we were able to provide them and the public with answers.”
One of the biggest public misconceptions we were able to clear was how the bonds for vendor payables and GMH CIP & modernization projects would be paid for. “We don’t need any tax increases to pay for these projects. All of these projects would be paid for with the savings we generate from the bond refinancing and from the General Fund’s future capacity,” Governor Calvo said.
GMH Chief Financial Officer Benita Manglona and Guam Medical Association President Dr. Tom Shieh also were able to answer Vice Speaker BJ Cruz’s numerous concerns about hospital finances. “Their answers seemed to satisfy him, because they answered every one of his concerns and he didn’t have anything further to ask.”
GMH and administration finance officials are standing by for any future questions by senators.
“I’m really proud of our democratic process right now, because this is how it’s supposed to work. Proposals are supposed to be scrutinized and questioned in public, and that’s what happened last night and what continues in the public today. Sen. San Nicolas kept this process from occurring, and that was wrong. But thanks to Sens. Respicio and Rodriguez, the process took its course. I don’t think the GMH stakeholders will soon forget something like this.” — Governor Calvo
###