GMH: Too many excuses, too many dead

By Vincent Akimoto

Another baby died at the Guam Memorial Hospital, and her wailing mother’s heart burst with tears that will never dry. 

She and her family rightfully blame the pyrogenic GovGuam healthcare system that doesn’t prioritize patient safety or the procurement of medicines or essential medical supplies over the bloated salaries of nonessential GovGuam employees.

She and her family rightfully blame the incompetent GovGuam healthcare system that allowed an electrical fire to burst into flames on the fourth floor GMH pediatric ward and force a chaotic stairwell evacuation of sick children and terrified hospital staff.

She and her fellow villagers righteously blame the apathetic GovGuam healthcare system, which had no ambulance available for desperate, broken-hearted families in Southern Guam. How ironic that all this should happen when we in Guam are called to speak out against every form of violence against the families of this island.

Anger now is not enough. Words now are not enough. Kinetic foundational change is way past due.

Meanwhile, a Chuukese family buries its newborn son in a shallow grave because GMH and Guam’s shambolic perinatal/ infant health system has failed them.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2025 Annual Report, Guam Memorial Hospital has now become infamous as the most dangerous place in America for a Micronesian baby to be born.

From 2018 to 2023, there have been 198 infant deaths on Guam. The crude infant mortality rate for this period was 12.06 deaths per 1,000 live births.

In a recently published report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Vital Statistics, Guam's infant death rate for 2022 was 10.7 per 1,000, double the U.S. rate.

Guam's neonatal mortality rate rose 3 percent from 3.49 per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 3.58 in 2022, and the postneonatal mortality rate grew 4 percent from 1.95 per 1,000 to 2.02 over the same period.

CHamoru babies comprised 37 percent of births in 2018-2023. For every 1,000 births from mothers who identified as CHamoru from 2018 to 2023, 10.7 CHamoru infants would pass away before reaching 12 months of age, making up 35 percent of all infants.

Following Chamorro births, Chuukese births were 15 percent of births. The Chuukese population in Guam has been growing rapidly since the Compact of Free Association, which allows individuals from the Federated States of Micronesia to work in the U.S. However, infant mortality outcomes have been exceptionally high for minority Micronesians in Guam.

For every 1,000 births from mothers who identified as Chuukese from 2018 to 2023, 17.7 percent Chuukese infants would pass away before 12 months of age. Despite only 15 percent of births, Chuukese infants accounted for 30 percent of all infant deaths. The odds of infant death for Chuukese infants during 2018-2023 were 83 percent greater than those of other infants.

Not just the babies, but also the mothers are dying. According to local healthcare activist David Lubofsky, Guam has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States of America.

Infant mortality is a multi-factorial societal problem often linked to factors that affect an individual's physical and mental well-being, including maternal health, socioeconomic status, quality and access to medical care, and public health practices.

The loss of an infant can adversely affect families and communities, both socially and emotionally, often resulting in several negative symptoms such as depression, grief, and guilt. Families may suffer from long-term psychological distress, which can lead to partner separation or divorce. Grieving partners also face isolation from friends and family.

People have lost hope. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and her GMH minions are hanging limply like zombies. They can’t fix the dilapidated, pyrogenic electrical panel, so they built 36 parking stalls instead.

Guam families see no future in which GMH improves anytime soon. So many take their sick loved ones to nearby Third World countries for better care. More and more people are packing up and leaving Guam for good, bitterly waving a passive-aggressive middle finger.

GovGuam has been tone-deaf. While GovGuam has been fixated on celebrating itself with million-dollar holidays, the Joint Commission condemned GMH for repeatedly violating patient safety! The Army Corps of Engineers meticulously documented GMH's structural unsafety.

The protracted and persistent loss of accreditation is damning testimony to GMH’s underlying weakness and failure. Hospital and government leaders continue to prioritize payroll politics over safe patient care.

The Joint Commission national certification meant that Guam’s hospital met the highest standards for safe patient care, which is central to GMH’s core identity. Over the past seven years, while GMH failed to prioritize patient safety, the Naval Hospital Guam and Guam Regional Medical City actively maintained accreditation.

Gov Lou knows GMH is unsafe. The GovGuam reaction's lackadaisical approach is her fault and infuriating. Don’t tell me that you care about poor people when you take my tax money, but then you don’t spend it effectively to help anybody but sycophants.

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero has broken the social contract of leadership. Her government has taken taxes but has not competently delivered basic social services, healthcare, education, or public safety

Like Justice, delayed hospital care is hospital care that has been denied. Every woman, man, and child of Guam must speak truth to power.

GMH means Get Me to Hawaii. GMH is not good enough for Guam.

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