As island leaders and medical professionals continue to debate over a new hospital and where to build it, Senator Frank Blas Jr. called on the Governor to create a task force for the Guam Memorial Hospital (GMH) to, “Quickly find and solve the current issues without waiting for a new facility that might repeat the same problems.”

He acknowledges the need for a new hospital, but says the ongoing discussions delays immediate need for improved healthcare services.

“We're talking about the here and now. We're talking about the healthcare issues, concerns and problems that exist today. These are healthcare problems and issues that can't wait another 5 or 7 years until another hospital is built. People need adequate healthcare, need to be assured we have the confidence in the facility and in the delivery of healthcare today,” He said.

“We're wasting time in not dealing with it. So we need to deal with it now so that it doesn't become a waste.”

In response, the Governor’s Communications Director Krystal Paco-San Agustin says,

“Senator Blas recognizes urgent actions must be taken to help GMH. We appreciate that and want to work with him going forward.

While it isn’t yet another government task force, the GMH Board has identified its systemic weaknesses and embarked on a plan to address them. For us, this meant executing a financial review committee to immediately address the hospital’s financial challenges and plan its way forward.

Simultaneously, GMH leadership and an array of current committees and existing working groups are focused on meeting the standard of care which keeps us CMS qualified and safe for patient care.

Finally, while quiet professionals work to steady GMH’s finances and deliver quality care, after a pandemic and a typhoon, we are wasting time fighting to maintain a facility that Army Corps of Engineers essentially said was Beyond Economic Repair.”