For Immediate Release
February 10, 2018
In response to Senator Dennis Rodriguez resolution to investigate GMH, Dr. Larry Lizama, a respected Guam physician and community leader, has asked the senator to question him under oath on Monday or Tuesday, before he leaves island for a month for personal medical treatment unavailable on Guam.
Lizama would like to focus on solutions to the challenges and not blame. “The solution before the Legislature today will fully fund GMH every single year moving forward, modernize facilities with proper equipment and advance patient care. This is the real task at hand,” Lizama said.
He is the second doctor this week to call on senators to put a halt to divisive proposals and talk.
Earlier this week, former Lt. Governor Dr. Mike Cruz called on senators to ratchet down the rhetoric and rise above the politics stating, “Now is not the time to blame GMH management and employees, now is the time to get behind and support them, and get back to the big picture of funding.”
In recent weeks, press releases and statements from Rodriguez’s office have potentially defamed respected GMH leaders, physicians, and employees. They have included words like “corruption, investigation, coercion, and criminal.”
The proposals and media releases coming from his office are intended to distract from the root of the issue- the Legislature has failed to fund GMH by approximately $30M every year for over four decades.
“There are many of us who are personally stunned by the sudden shift in tone from the young senator. This is not the mild mannered senator who we have come to know; he has shifted from supportive to divisive,” Dr. Lizama said.
According to Lizama the division does nothing to advance healthcare and has damaged the morale of GMH employees: “His allegations and name calling are toxic. I am concerned that the environment it has created will cause good Doctors and Nurses to resign.”
Senator Rodriguez has not returned Dr. Lizama’s calls.