Surgeries are a tremendous investment – from the cost of supplies and equipment to the staffing needed, the procedures cost a tremendous amount of money, Dr. David Weingarten, a neurosurgeon for the hospital, explained.
With the hospital lacking the resources to perform some dire surgeries, Dr. Weingarten has opted to pay out of pocket for what was needed to save the lives of his patients.
“I lost a tremendous amount of money this weekend, but there are two people who are alive because of it. That’s not sustainable forever.”
“At some point, you can’t kick the can down the road forever. I haven’t been [on Guam] that long, but I’ve been here long enough to see more than one bill come up. If you had to hear, ‘I’m sorry you or your family member is going to die,’ would we still keep kicking the can? At some point, we have to come to a bill that we pass, even though it’s not perfect and it makes somebody unhappy. Because the people of Guam deserve it.”