Governor signs law directing $19.9M in excess Section 30 Funds to GMH for EHR system

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed amended Bill 1 (11-S) on Friday, directing $19.885 million in excess Section 30 funds to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority for the purchase of an electronic health record system.

During the bill-signing ceremony on Friday, Leon Guerrero called the bill an “essential piece of legislation.”

“GMH has always had trouble with their internet and their internet infrastructure and budget after budget, they put in money to upgrade their equipment, the hardware and all that, but those were all piecemeal kinds of solutions. And so, this piece of legislation ... starts off a beginning phase of a while comprehensive system that GMH will have in the long run,” Leon Guerrero said.

The governor said the new EHR system will be transferred to the new hospital when it is built in Mangilao.

Bill 1 (11-S), now Public Law 38-142, directs $19,885,394 in excess Section 30 funds to the Guam Memorial Hospital to support the EHR purchase and infrastructure.

Currently, the hospital relies on three separate EHR systems, none of which support integration. The funding appropriated in the new law helps solve that issue, which interim hospital Administrator and CEO Dr. Joleen Aguon said contributes to long ER waits and slowed patient care.

“The Guam Memorial Hospital Authority is very thankful for this opportunity to move this big effort to improve patient safety, to start one record for our patients and have a unified system that includes our revenue cycle management, so that we can improve our billing and collections for the hospital moving forward,” Aguon said.

Adelup said in a release following the bill-signing ceremony that the technology upgrade is designed to unify Guam’s health care network.

“Once implemented, the system will allow authorized providers at the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS), the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center (GBHWC), and the Department of Corrections (DOC) to readily share and access patient information. Additionally, the law allows GMH to pursue sublicensing arrangements with private clinics and health care providers, creating a new potential revenue stream for the hospital,” Adelup said.

According to Adelup, the Legislature has been informed that a request for proposals for the EHR system is expected to be issued within one to two weeks.

“The full procurement and implementation timeline is projected to take 15 to 18 months. With the hospital’s current software contract set to expire in 2028, today’s bill signing ensures a seamless, timely transition to a secure and modern platform,” Adelup said.

Adelup also acknowledged that the funding being directed helps, in part, fulfill an obligation in the fiscal 2027 budget act, which initially calls for the first $21 million in unobligated general revenue funds to go to GMH for operations.

“The newly signed law explicitly expands the scope of that appropriation, establishing clear legislative intent that the entire $19,885,394 in excess Section 30 revenues must be dedicated to acquiring and deploying the new EHR platform,” Adelup said.

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