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McMillan: "Free at last!"
Since the Camacho Administration announced the verbal resignation of the administrator of the Guam Memorial Hospital, Bill McMillan has declined to do interviews to discuss if he in fact resigned or how he felt about the Administration finding replacements to run GMH. Today before members of the Rotary Club of Guam, McMillan spoke about the ongoing turmoil at the agency and officially announced his resignation to the Board of Trustees.
Paraphrasing one of his favorite people, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., McMillan officially called it quits. He proclaimed before the membership, "I'm free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last! Thanks."
Before his fellow Rotarians, McMillan told board chairman Phil Flores that his resignation letter would be submitted this afternoon, McMillan briefly talked about the current instability at the Hospital, but thanked those who supported him through the tough times. The now-former Hospital administrator said his two years at the Hospital taught him to value good friendship and honesty. "I have tried to put the best spin on things at the hospital but I have never covered up the bad things at the Hospital. I think that's important."
In the last few weeks, McMillan was targeted for allegedly giving sweetheart contracts to personal friends and wasting agency money. McMillan says he knows that many of the Hospital's contracts are being questioned, but maintains there was no impropriety. "Phil never signed any bad contracts. I never signed any bad contracts," he said. "There are no sweetheart deals at the Hospital. Everything we did was reviewed from the business aspect, signed off by the board of trustees, reviewed by our private counsel at the Hospital and signed off by the Attorney General, it doesn't get much better than that."
As for the Administration's contentions that the Hospital could have collected more money, specifically $4 million, McMillan argued that figure pales in comparison to the government's unpaid bills to GMH. "Yeah, there's $4 million in old accounts receivable from commercials plans, but there's many times that due from the government, not only from MIP and Medicaid," he confirmed.
McMillan referred to two specific outstanding bills from the Department of Corrections and Department of Mental Health. He commends the collection efforts with the minimal staff at the Hospital, but admits collections can always improve.
As for the crisis at the GMH Pharmacy, McMillan says he understands that three of the part-time pharmacists who were hired back on Wednesday were terminated from the Hospital for failing to show up to work. McMillan added one pharmacist was also suspected to have loaned pharmaceuticals to a community-based pharmacy without ever repaying the Hospital. On that point, he professed, "As a professional, I do know that I would have a hard time hiring somebody who had been terminated for cause."
As he reflected back on his time at the Hospital, McMillan says he's learned a thing or two. "Before that place can shine, something's gotta be done about changing the culture at the Hospital. I tried to do it, I wasn't able to. I'm sorry Phil. I'm sorry to the community for letting you down for doing that. We gave it a shot...we tried our best," he said.
McMillan also added, "There are many fine men and women and - I was going to say children - but there are some people at the Hospital that act like children," which brought about a round of laughter. "There's a lot of good people there and they deserve the community's support."
While it was obvious he didn't feel support from the Administration, McMillan received a standing ovation from the Rotary members and a hug from chairman Flores. McMillan also suggested privatizing the Hospital and placing a cap and restrictions on the MIP program. McMillan and his wife will be moving back to the mainland to resume life there.
Following McMillan's announcement this afternoon, KUAM News attempted to get comment from Flores, who last night returned from an off-island trip. He refused. He has likewise not responded to the Administration's announcement about McMillan's verbal resignation, or to the appointment of the Department of Health Public Health's Peter John Camacho as his replacement. Flores has told KUAM News in previous interviews that if McMillan were to leave, he would follow.
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