By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Guam Memorial Hospital may either have to scale back or close vital services if funding shortfalls are not addressed, hospital officials said, warning that the ICU, telemetry wards and interventional cardiology are likely to be affected.
Speaker Therese M. Terlaje has raised concerns that the budget reported out of the appropriations committee did not address GMH's request for $44 million, which is more than fiscal year 2024 or a total of $74.3M.
At last week's budget hearing, Dr. Dustin Prins, GMH acting administrator, advocated for a $44 million increase over FY 2024.
He testified that if the hospital received less than a $10 million increase, "then it really truly does come down to cutting all of the secondary tenants, close them all down." These are life-saving services that our people rely on every day.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has proposed to give GMH a $1.8 million increase over FY 2024.
The proposed budget bill in its current form would give GMH only a $7.5 million increase over FY2024.
Terlaje said the budget bill would underfund GMH by over $36 million, potentially jeopardizing crucial healthcare services.
The governor last week submitted additional requests to the legislature to increase funding for other agencies, with some already expecting a 17 percent increase in their budget, while GMH is barely receiving a 5 percent increase, Terlaje said.
She asked the Department of Administration and the Bureau of Budget Management and Resources if they doubted GMH’s request.
But Terlaje said neither agency proposed any other solutions. They did not confirm either if the governor intended to use any additional American Rescue Plan funds for GMH instead, the speaker added.
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