by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It's been over a year since Governor Eddie Calvo changed the management and board of the Guam Memorial Hospital. And it's in that same amount of time that it's been since the Department of the Interior has checked-up on Guam's only public hospital.

Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta says running a hospital is a difficult institution to try and properly manage. And in a meeting with board and management this morning, he wanted an update on the hospital's progression on DOI-related projects. "There are projects that have been completed and other projects that are important to the hospital that are 50% to 75% complete," he explained. "But they indicated that all of those projects would be completed this year."

And according to GMH Board of Trustees chairman Lee Webber, it was a great meeting of the minds. "I'm glad the assistant secretary came out, and it gave us a chance for us to meet face-to-face and share concerns about the hospital and he shares the feeling regarding the hospital."

And while the meeting was to help the assistant secretary understand the hospital's needs as well, it was a meeting Senator Frank Blas, Jr. hoped would address issues regarding Compact impact, namely the rising costs of providing medical care to migrants from the Freely Associated States.

And while it wasn't a focus this morning, Babauta says it's a difficult issue to resolve. "There are claims by the affected jurisdictions of costs that far exceed the level of mandatory funding that the Congress has provided over the life of current Compact with the RMI and the FSM," he said.

Earlier this week his office found Guam's report on the impacts of the Compact, which he is transmitting to Congress. Babauta says the challenges faced by the hospital aren't solely caused by FAS migration alone, as it impacts the school systems and social services as well. "But I think to lay the blame on the shoulders of one community of migrants that have increased over the years is not fair to that community or to the challenges faced by the hospital," he said.

Moving forward, Babauta says he hopes to meet with GMH's incoming administrator and establish a working relationship. "We were hoping he would be on board by now and have a chance to begin that relationship with him and let him know how we are here to try and support the changes needed at the hospital," he said.