by Krystal Paco

Guam - Officials at the Guam Memorial Hospital are waiting for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to return to the Skilled Nursing Unit in Barrigada Heights for a re-survey. Acting Nursing Administrator Christine Tuquero told the Healthcare Committee that a number of the citations from the CMS survey back in January dealt with infection control, privacy issues and nursing.

Tuquero says those issues have been addressed, telling KUAM News, "We have been working on competencies. We have been working on audits and working with nursing staff on an individual basis and also on a group basis. We are confident that we will do better to address the citations and I think we're ready for another survey."

While they wait for CMS to return and provide feedback on their corrective plan of action, CMS did grant the hospital an extension to comply with Life Safety Code violations. They have until August 12.

CMS had indicated that they would stop paying for new admissions beginning on April 26, but GMH officials are unsure if it will be implemented. Additionally, management still needs to request for a waiver of a one dollar a day fine that has been accruing since the January survey.