By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Sen. Chris Barnett on Friday introduced a bill that would designate Tamuning as the site of a new hospital.
“It makes sense,” Barnett said in introducing Bill 185-37. “Minutes matter when it comes to saving lives and that’s why location matters when we’re talking about the site of a new hospital.”
Barnett introduced the bill to broaden the conversation about the construction of a new hospital and to provide an alternative to the Leon Guerrero/Tenorio administration’s plans to build a new hospital on land that would have to be purchased from the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission.
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“It’s bizarre to want to build a new hospital or medical complex way out in the middle of nowhere, and Adelup hasn’t even offered any explanation as to why they want to do that,” Barnett said.
“Meanwhile, the reasons to expand on our existing medical footprint and infrastructure in Tamuning are many. Adelup has complained the Legislature hasn’t offered any alternatives, but the governor and lt. governor have refused to even come to the table to talk about this issue. I really hope that changes. I pray we can talk about alternatives without the administration playing favorites with site selection.”
Barnett is also asking Speaker Therese Terlaje to add his Bill 185-37 to the agenda for the Nov. 1 public hearing on the governor’s Bill 184-37 (COR). Adelup’s Bill 184-37 calls for a medical complex to be built on ancestral lands that GovGuam would have to buy from the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission.