Guam Memorial Hospital proposal leads to impassioned testimony
A proposal to provide funding to Guam Memorial Hospital by eliminating gross receipts tax exemptions for wholesalers, banks and insurance carriers led to hours of impassioned testimony Monday - with supporters arguing the plan is vital for the public hospital, and opponents saying it lead to financial problems.
Gov. Eddie Calvo initially proposed borrowing $125 million to improve the hospital, and raising taxes to pay for it, but the Legislature didn't hold a hearing for those bills. The governor's new bill, which he described as a compromise with the Legislature, could have more than one public hearing.
Several doctors testified about the difficulty in providing quality medical care at a facility that can't afford modern medical technology or the supplies to support the limited technology it does have. Patients who should have outpatient medical procedures and go home are instead being admitted, doctors testified.
"At what price tag do you put the health and the lives of our people? What price tag do you put on providing our hospital with the facility, technology, supplies and equipment to save lives and to provide comfort? What price? I don’t have an answer, Mr. Speaker, that’s why I’m looking up to you. But this is a shared burden for all of us," Guam Memorial Hospital Medical Director Dr. Vincent Duenas testified.
Read more: http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/01/29/gmh-proposal-leads-impassioned-testimony/1073718001/