The Guam Memorial Hospital Authority has secured an award of more than $16 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to procure a secondary power source for the island's only public hospital.
Sen. Sabrina Salas Manatanane, the legislative committee on Health and Veterans Affairs made the announcement commending the hospital leadership for getting the project funded federally.
“I really want to give credit to the people at GMH, Dr. Joleen Aguon and her team, who worked on this and kept pushing. These grants don’t just happen. There’s a lot of work that goes into putting the project together, meeting the requirements and getting it across the finish line,” Salas Matanane said.
She said the funding supports the hospital maintain services during emergency situations.
“This is great news for GMH and for our entire community,” Salas Matanane said. “When the power goes out, GMH can’t simply shut down. This funding will help make sure the hospital can continue caring for patients when Guam is dealing with a typhoon, an outage or another emergency.”
According to GMH the project is estimated to cost $17.9 million with FEMA funding 90% or approximately $16.1 million through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. GMH will need to cover 10% of the total project cost.
“We have made strengthening GMH’s electrical infrastructure a clear priority because reliable power is essential to every part of patient care,” Interim Hospital Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Joleen Aguon said. “This approval is the result of sustained work to secure the resources our hospital needs. It moves a longstanding priority into funded action and brings us significantly closer to a stronger, safer and more resilient GMH.”
The legislative chair recognized that importance of holding the hospital accountable while also celebrating successes.
"We can continue to ask questions and hold GMH accountable while also recognizing when good things are happening," she said. “This is another example of the changes we’ve been working to see at GMH. There is still more work to do, but this is a significant step forward.”
Salas Matanane also recognized the Hazard Mitigation Section Team leader Stephanie Flores and Territorial Disaster Recovery Coordinator Dr. Forrest Chargualaf for their part in reviving the project and moving it forward.