By Jayvee Vallejera
A $200 million, 50-bed hospital for women and children may soon rise at Ypao Point in Guam.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero's plan to return the donated Ypao Point property to its original donor has aroused the interest of a group looking at the 30-acre property as a possible site for a women and children’s hospital.
That would simultaneously fulfill the desire of the lot’s original donor for a hospital that would benefit island residents and expand Guam’s acute need for neonatal and maternal care.
A Hospital Development Group—composed of Guam physicians, a real estate broker, a large Taiwan investment group looking for an EB-5 project and a Hawaii hospital that is reportedly interested in branching out to Guam—has reportedly come together to explore this new option, according to Dr. Vincent Akimoto, who is involved in the preliminary talks.
Akimoto said the Kapiolani Women and Children’s Hospital has potential interests in Guam and a proposal for such a hospital at Ypao Point could be its way in.
Located near the cliff on the west end of Guam, Ypao Point—also called the Oka Point—was the site of Guam’s old hospital from 1956 to 1978. The surrounding area is generally residential except for the Hilton Resort and Spa.
The late Francis D. Perez originally donated the lot to the government of Guam on the condition that the property would be used as a hospital facility.
Now that Leon-Guerrero wants to build the new hospital in Mangilao, she proposes returning the lot to the Perez family. Christine Perez, the widow of a son of the late Francis D. Perez, has been quoted in earlier reports as saying, “If she wants to return it, we will accept it.”
She did say she’d prefer to see a new hospital in the area, and this plan for a women and children’s hospital at Ypao Point could still make her wish come true.
Dr. Thomas Shieh said they are still in preliminary talks right now. “That's really the start. As we progress, we will announce down the road,” he said.
Besides being a hospital for women and children, initial plans also aim to have the hospital designated as an Emergency Access facility by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It could be developed in coordination with the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority and even the U.S. Department of Defense, he said.
Akimoto said the entire funding will potentially be EB-5, a type of visa program that seeks to attract investors.
Akimoto said the political group CHamoru Nation, a grassroots organization that advocates for the protection of CHamoru land, culture, and political rights—approved building a children’s hospital on Ypao Point. He said they are also pushing to make the facility a state home for veterans.
Akimoto said the Perez family, which wants to see a children’s hospital built on the lot, may get their property returned by the Guam government in April this year. Even before then, Akimoto said that timelines are accelerating and they are now coming up with plans on how to make sure to maximize the Ypao property for best use.
In emphasizing the need for a women and children’s hospital in Guam, Akimoto cited earlier media reports about newborn care at the Guam Memorial Hospital, which is currently Guam’s main hospital. He cited the cramped conditions at the GMH neonatal intensive care unit, the territory’s lack of advanced medical care for children, and runaway infant and maternal mortality rates.
Since 2011, Guam’s infant mortality rate is reportedly twice the national average. Guam’s maternal mortality rate is also higher than the rest of the nation. That means newborns and women who’ve just given birth face higher risks of dying.
Earlier media reports blame the island’s high infant mortality rate on the lack of neonatal specialists and resources at the Guam Memorial Hospital. Also, many areas of the hospital have been found to have mold concentrations high enough to be a health hazard.
One of the children of the late Francisco D. Perez had emphasized that their family let go of that piece of land to benefit the locals of Guam.
Speaking at a public hearing by the Chamorro Land Trust Commission on Jan. 19, 2016, Margarita Perez read the affidavit of former Gov. Carlton Skinner—Guam’s first civilian governor—to emphasize that the property’s intended use was to benefit Guam residents.
“I just wanted to remind the commission that the intended use was for the locals, and I’m hoping that that’s what will remain as something that we locals can use,” reads Margarita Perez's testimony.
Sen. Chris Barnett shared a copy of the transcript of the testimony with the Pacific Island Times.
Margaret Perez was prompted to appear before the commission after it sought public comments on a plan to convert the property for commercial and hotel use.
The property was the site of Guam’s old hospital from 1956 to 1978. It became government land administered by the Chamorro Land Trust Commission after the hospital’s closure and has been dormant for decades.
The site has also been used to host Kutturan CHamoru, a local festival that celebrates the island’s culture and traditions.
“I’m hoping that that’s what will remain as something that we locals can use [so we] can enjoy the view that Kutturan CHamoru gets to enjoy now and those that attend Kutturan Chamorro,” she added.
Instead of the original plan to build a hospital on the site, Gov. Lou Leon-Guerrero now wants to build the new hospital in Mangilao, saying the acquisition of properties for this new hospital project has been done. She proposes returning the Ypao property to the Perez family.
It was learned from Skinner’s affidavit that a plan to build a hospital for Guam civilians was originally proposed at Ypao Point, also known as Satpon Point or Ka Point.
“The Naval Government after World War II had created an entity called Guam Memorial Hospital. In reality, this barely existed. It was a group of temporary butler buildings and quonset huts contiguous to and administered as part of the Naval Hospital. These temporary buildings—rusting, leaking and with no air conditioning—were only hospital wards,” Skinner’s affidavit stated.
At that time, Guam’s civilian population was about 35,000 people.
“It became clear to me and my colleagues in the new civilian government that we would have to build our own hospital,” he had said.
Subscribe to
our digital
monthly edition