Gubernatorial debate offers solutions to medical community's concerns

The gubernatorial candidates squared-off in a debate Thursday night hosted by the Guam Medical Association. The two teams staked out their positions on a wide variety of healthcare-related questions during the two-hour event.

The first question was on their preference for the location of a new Guam Memorial Hospital.

"The factors that have gone into location is first space, acreage and we now have a hospital in the west side of the island, we would like to have a hospital in the east side of the island, and is more accessible to the south, the central and in a central and of course there is already a hospital in the northern side," detailed Lou Leon Guerrero, Guam's incumbent governor.

Opposing her, Congressman Michael San Nicolas said, "The doctors want to be able to get to a hospital faster because their existing operations, for the most part, are more along the Tamuning central part of the island and north central. So we already have existing parcel of land there's a generous family that donated it years ago at Oka Point. So if we can stay focused on we have a functional facility in existing system of care, I think the best place for a hospital is up north."

The candidates were also asked about their plans to alleviate the nursing shortage.  The governor said, "We've increased nursing salaries, because we saw nurses leaving for better compensation. we also worked very closely with the University of Guam. we've given them resources and financial aid to expand their nursing capabilities."

San Nicolas rebutted, "To address those issues we absolutely need to make the investments in building up the available nursing workforce. The medical professionals I've spoken to have been sharing with me that the investments that we need have not been happening.  And this administration has had emergency powers to be able to do those things - they've had enormous amounts of funding to be able to do those things and for us to be having this conversation now, that doesn't resolve this is very, very disheartening."

And there was one controversial topic not directly related to the medical field that came late in the debate and was raised by San Nicolas himself. In a discussion about proposed legislation that would allow for the posting of unsubstantiated misconduct by doctors, he referenced the recent release of the House Ethics Committee report which recommended that the Justice Department review his alleged misconduct.

"I have some experience on unsubstantiated claims. I know how it can hurt families," said San Nicolas, pausing and glancing out at his family members seated in the crowd. "I know other people in this room who can make unsubstantied claims in their spare time. I know there are people in this room who have sanctioned those kind of things to be happening. So I can absolutely empathize that unsubstantiated claims have no business being put out there in ways that are going to bring conflict to you or to your families."

Governor Leon Guerrero quickly responded, saying, "I talked about unsubstantiated claims. What the congressman is talking about is the ethics report. And if you read the ethics report, the report says that they have found substantive evidence and so I am talking about unsubstantiated claims, not substantiated facts."

The lieutenant governor candidates, incumbent Josh Tenorio and Sabrina Salas Matanane, also fielded questions.