Senators grill GMH administration on above step recruitment practices

The Guam Memorial Hospital's management team appeared virtually before lawmakers for an oversight hearing. At issue hiring above step and vacancies at the hospital.
 

Entry-level positions are hired at a certain step, or pay grade and job descriptions are made up of steps based on experience or qualifications. Above step recruitment is when the government hires someone at a pay grade higher than they would normally make entering that position.
 
The oversight follows a KUAM report on press releases regarding petitions issued via press releases for above step recruitment.  It also followed a GMH board nominee confirmation hearing during which Sen. Joanne Brown questioned the need for the hiring of a marketing and communications director.  Brown during today's oversight hearing compared the hiring for this position to another and further questioned the rating policy.
 
"But I just want to give you an example in regards to education and experience credit," she said. "This is an example of the point system. In this particular case, this applicant has a master's degree. And I'll look at another position that had been applied for hospital physical therapist II and when you look at the excess education experience credit that was discussed a little earlier, it says here that this particular individual possesses a doctorate degree in physical therapy. And I'm sure we'd all say, wow, that's very impressive. But yet I look at the point system and this individual is only rated from 0 to 5, the rating is 2. Going back to the PIO position, specialty skills, agency asset, it says 0 or 1 point, the individual is given 2 points. So I don't know if it's just a miscounting of numbers but obviously, it's not possible to earn 2."
 
 
 During the oversight hearing, GMH Administrator Lillian Posadas referenced a resolution passed years ago giving her the authority to hire and approve above step hiring. In Fiscal Year 2020 out of 225 people hired at GMH, 19 were done above step, 154 were for clinical and medical positions, 71 were not. In FY2021  GMH hired 245 individuals, 23 were hired above step, 70 were for non-clinical positions.  In FY 2022 GMH hired 29 individuals four were hired above step.  Healthcare Committee Chair Speaker Therese Terlaje questioned GMH as to why they did not provide the actual petitions for the above step recruitments.
 
Terlaje: We tried to put them together in a packet but in the documents we received, we did not receive the petitions for all of those. We received the media releases but not the detailed petitions that I thought was going to go to the board for approval in regards to above step recruitments and even in the FY22 transmittals.

Posadas: We do have the documents, Madame Speaker, unfortunately, our Xerox machine broke down and so we ran out of time to get that xerox machine working.

Terlaje: You can also send me a letter that all of these documents should be available on your website but we cannot find any petitions on the website and the petitions is a document justifies the qualifications and we can't find that on the website.

Posadas: We will work on that Madame Speaker to make sure that is available.

Terlaje: I would like copies as well, please.
 
 
 
Additionally, the speaker's office on Nov. 30 sent a Freedom of Information Act request to GMH for information regarding hiring and vacancies they received the information late yesterday. They also received a PowerPoint

 

presentation from GMH just before today's oversight. GMH Administrator Lillian Posadas said the executive team was busy "caring for patients" while also gathering documents.  The Guam Behavioral and Wellness Center is scheduled to appear before next for an oversight hearing on the same issues on Thursday.