by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It's been over two months since Bill 45 was introduced aimed at helping the Guam Memorial Hospital hire more doctors. And while the bill has had a public hearing, it has yet to see its day on session floor.

"Unfortunately for us, it's rather disappointing," said GMH medical director Dr. Larry Lizama, referring to Bill 45, a measure introduced by Senators Brant McCreadie and Rory Respicio to allow GMH to procure professional medical services by industry standard. "Because the needs of this bill for us to recruit for services staffing for services that would provide, is ongoing we have ongoing needs in many departments of the hospital," he said.

It was back in February when Lizama and a handful of physicians met with lawmakers shortly after the bills introduction urging them to take action on a bill they deemed critical in hiring a neonatologist and a pathologist. "The urgency for that was because we didn't know that before December 2012 or November 2012 that it was illegal to recruit two people that we already had been searching for a long time and had identified and we had commitment at that time," he said.

Committee chairman Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz meanwhile tells KUAM that Bill 45 still sits in his committee as he did NOT see the urgency considering GMH has already filled the two positions it deemed critical.

Lizama confirms GMH filled the two positions back in March but was done through the board ratifying a resolution to fill the emergency need. He says while this action was within the authority of the board and the governor, he does not want to do that for all its recruits as the hospital has needs on an ongoing basis. "The issue is defining what critical needs are versus what should be the mission and objectives of GMH. When I'm told of practice patterns here at the hospital that may be at danger of delivering safe patient care, I need to do something, I need to have the ability to get somebody to effectuate change," he said.

Lizama says he has recruiters standing by with potential candidates who would fit the needs for Guam, but without Bill 45 can't work with them because he can't pay the recruiter. He adds GMH currently has vacancies in the Emergency Room Department along with in pediatrics, internal medicine and may lose a surgeon or two by this summer. Cruz however says he has yet to formally hear from GMH on what specific positions need to be filled by using a headhunter and until then, the bill will remain in committee.