August 31, 2018
Hagåtña– Governor Eddie Calvo signed Executive Order No. 2018-11 yesterday which authorized the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority’s (GMHA) pharmaceutical fund to be used as a direct subsidy for the hospital’s operations.
“I cannot allow GMH to fail. Regardless of what insurance you carry, whether Medicaid, MIP, or private, without a hospital where would they go? GRMC alone cannot carry the entire island – we’ve always said we need both hospitals to be functioning to accommodate our population,” the Governor said.
Senators of the 34th Guam Legislature forced Governor Calvo to choose between funding Medicaid or giving GMH sorely needed funds to use for its operations using Bill 323-34, now known as Public Law 34-116.
According to GMH Executives, the new infusion of money allocated under this Executive Order will go towards paying what’s owed, some $14 million in payables, as well as operations, such as procurement of supplies, medications, maintenance of its facilities, and necessary upgrades.
“The monies GMH will now receive from the Pharmaceutical Fund will allow for us to purchase sorely needed supplies and to maintain our aging facilities,” GMH’s Administrator PeterJohn Camacho stated. “It is no secret that our hospital is in dire need of improvements and this influx of monies will now allow for it.”
The island’s only public hospital will continue to fulfill its mandate which requires it to provide services for each and every person who walks through their doors regardless of their ability to pay.
Unfortunately, senators didn’t provide a dedicated funding source that GMH and the Administration has been pushing Senators to provide – this would have ended the annual shortfall over the last 40-years. We thought there was a solution already set, except the solution was stripped away at the behest of Mike San Nicolas. Instead of an alternate solution to the problem, senators created a new problem.
Senators, instead of ensuring there was funding for stability in all sectors of the government, created a scenario where the Governor had to choose between the island’s only public hospital or funding Medicaid.
