The Guam Memorial Hospital is facing a critical shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year, prompting a disagreement between Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and the legislature over who holds the authority to provide additional funding.

“GMH is a very financially complicated issue,” said Governor Lou Leon Guerrero.

GMH is critically strapped on cash with the cost of operations outpacing revenue.

Leon Guerrero said the legislature has 'full authority' to help them out.

“Because they are the keepers of the pursestrings. They have the authority to appropriate from the general fund,” said Leon Guerrero.

As reported, the public hospital is short $21.9 million and is asking senators for the additional funding in their budget request for FY26.

Hospital leadership warning that it could lead to reduced bed capacity, longer emergency room wait times, and a loss of staff.

“I can tell you we are going to work with everything we’ve got to work with your requested level [of appropriation],” said Senator Chris Duenas, who chairs the Finance and Government Operations Committee.

Sen. Duenas asked hospital leadership to also work with the Governor and Department of Administration.

“I think it’s very critical that you go back to work with DOA and work with the Governor, because that’s unsustainable,” added Duenas.

Duenas said the Governor can use her transfer authority, or the ability to reallocate funds between different government agencies.

“You are, in my opinion, a line agency in the government for all intents and purposes. So if things need to change in law, then they need to change in law,” said Duenas.

The Governor says otherwise.

“What the transfer authority means is that, if say I am seeing by the end of the fiscal year that maybe DOA is short, I can look at the other agencies and see if there are lapses there and I can transfer money from them to the DOA. I don’t think I can transfer to GMH because GMH is not a line agency,” said Leon Guerrero.

“The legislature really has the authority right now to appropriate those monies. They also have the authority to raise the revenues. The office of finance and budget, they have the authority to amend budgets that are sent down there. So they’re the full authority,” she added.

Still, Duenas argues that’s 'the wrong way to go.'

“There is no way to raise revenues in the current projection right now. There is no way that I will, under my leadership, put us back into deficit spending. It’s not good for Guam,” said Duenas.

The bottom line, he says, GovGuam has to ‘live within their means,’ and by August, they'll have to find that money elsewhere.