Deputy secretary of veterans affairs Donald Remy is wrapping-up his listening tour across the P

acific with his stop on Saipan today after visiting veterans on Guam. KUAM News sat down with U.S. Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan who shares what he hopes Remy not only hears, but sees.

"Service to veterans should not be up and down based on the market, it should be a steady flow of resources that veterans need for especially their health and well being and then of course there are other benefits," said Congressman Sablan. "I don't know the Commonwealth can commit to that kind of discretionary spending if they can't even make sure that patients on Guam, who are patients from the Marianas who may be on medical referral, cannot receive prescription medicine. This is a shame. Here we are celebrating Balboa Park. Nothing against the House of Chamorro but at a time when really, really, there are no problems here? It is mind-boggling. Astounding as it is. Mind boggling still."

Kilili's sharp criticism of local government priorities comes as some local officials are off-island while Remy arrived on Saipan Tuesday morning as part of his Pacific listening tour at the invitation of the Congressman. Focus now turns to what's happening on the ground as Remy meets with a small group of veterans and tours the NMI's only hospital.

"When we first got on this job there was hardly any permanent VA presence on the island. Once in a while people come here and now we are still far short, just think of our isolation, but we still have gone a long way and this is what the secretary needs to see...is that we are isolated but it can be fixed," said Sablan.

Kilili has advocated for the establishment of a Community Based Outpatient Clinic in the NMI. He says the distance Remy traveled ought to be a first lesson on how difficult access to care is. "We are not just remote in terms of distance, and we are, but also in terms of the services our veterans get here. I am not expecting that we should have a world class veteran's medical center here, but access to those that are available. So yeah, for our veterans here, and Rota and Tinian, it is even more difficult," he said.

He recalled the story of a Rota patient on a wheelchair having to travel by boat to Guam to get treatment. He wants to ensure that never happens again.