Hagåtña, Guam – Governor Lou Leon Guerrero has declared a State of Emergency for the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) following an electrical fire at the Mangilao facility last night. The Guam Fire Department has closed public access after deeming the building unsafe.
Executive Order 2019-26 declares a State of Emergency at DPHSS, orders agency coordination to determine availability of office space, and gives the Governor the authority to utilize up to $250,000 from the General Fund for needs associated with the transition to a new space.
“I am working very closely with Public Health Director Linda DeNorcey and her team to ensure that Public Health can continue to provide services to our people. We are acting decisively to find an alternate location for the agency so it can get operations back up and running,” said Governor Leon Guerrero. “The situation at Public Health is a result of benign neglect. I want to thank the firefighters who were there in the middle of a storm doing their best to fight the fire. And I join Guam in thanking them for their work.”
“We will be doing an inventory of all our records and meeting with our staff to discuss how operations will be organized over the next few days. More importantly, we have clients, patients, and constituents who rely on our services, and we want the public to know that we will do everything we can so that disruption of services are minimized,” added DPHSS Director Linda DeNorcey.