The dog-and-pony show at GMH | Letters to the Editor – The Guam Daily Post

The long-awaited inspection of the structure of Guam Memorial Hospital by the Army Corps of Engineers has found that our only public hospital "won't collapse tomorrow"; "existing roof system has exceeded its useful life"; and much of the hospital needs replacing. The general issues identified by the 13-member parade of engineers have been previously identified year after year by numerous hospital administrators, elected officials, media partners, patients, and health care professionals. And while government officials acknowledged the lack of planning necessary to address the immediate and long-term needs of the hospital; the "sense of validation" expressed by the hospital's administrator of operations left much to be desired of the dog-and-pony show on display at Guam Memorial Hospital.

Conflicting messages

GMH Administrator Lillian Perez-Posadas has been the ringleader of this spectacle, often sending conflicting messages to the general public regarding bed and nursing shortages; systems and maintenance issues; financial or insurmountable challenges or the like. In a previous statement, she confirmed that the hospital was on divert status due to all ER beds already filled with patients waiting for inpatient beds. She further clarified that the shortage of telemetry and medical-surgical inpatient beds was the cause of an overflow of patients in the emergency room.

The GMH administrator fell short of addressing the common theme orchestrated by government officials for GMH this year: Overcrowding. If overcrowding at our public hospital denies patients timely treatment, why do government and elected officials deliberately choose to debate building a new hospital over prioritizing the treatment of patients at our only public hospital?

We need fundamental reform

For context, the Intensive Care Unit has 14 beds, but GMH only has enough nurses to monitor six patients around the clock. Telemetry, which is a cardiac monitoring unit, has 26 beds for patients but, again, the shortage of nurses doesnt allow full use of the unit. Does a new hospital with new facilities, larger medical units and a sound structure equate to more beds and more nurses? Does a new hospital solve the issue of overcrowding or patients being warehoused on stretchers and treated in the corridors of the emergency room?

Its clear that government and elected officials are convinced that the correct way to eliminate the overcrowding, shortage of beds and nurses, and other problems at GMH is to build a new hospital. However, the issues remain the same today as they were yesterday: inadequate funding; challenges with the direction of upper management; and an unwillingness of government and elected officials to address the serious need for fundamental reform.

How long will they keep failing us?

Government and elected officials can commission all the inspections, assessments, task forces, and reports they like, but the reality is that if we do not see better working conditions, an end to the gaping pay inequality among health care practitioners, and fundamental financial reform as a matter of urgency, then the road to building a new hospital will only keep the dog-and-pony show going.

The Vigilance Committee Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to requiring compliance with the Open Government Law and the Sunshine Reform Act. It seeks to improve the dissemination and disclosure of information to the general public by, among other things: detecting violations of the Open Government Law and the Sunshine Reform Act, bringing about the enforcement of the act, and strengthening the laws on all fronts.

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The dog-and-pony show at GMH | Letters to the Editor - The Guam Daily Post