Guam § 83101 - Legislative Findings and Policy.

§ 83101. Legislative Findings and Policy.

(a) I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that the Guam Memorial

Hospital Authority (GMHA), the Department of Public Health

and Social Services (DPHSS), and the Guam Behavioral Health

and Wellness Center (GBHWC) are in dire need of new facilities.

The healthcare facilities’ structures have been used for more than

five (5) decades and are showing stages of structural failure due

to the age of said facilities. The structures of the healthcare

facilities are also not meeting modern building codes, which

creates a liability to the staff, patients, and visitors of the facilities.

(b) The need for new facilities is in demand as the U.S.

Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, has funded

an assessment for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to

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investigate the failing structure and the long and short-term needs

of the hospital. The failing structure is being used to continue

operation, and addressing structural and environmental issues is

outlined in the USACE reports. GMHA needs a new facility as it

endangers the accreditation status of the hospital based on

standards and guidelines promulgated by United States Centers

for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and applicable codes.

I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that the current infrastructure of the

GMHA facility is in an overall state of failure due to its age of

more than fifty (50) years, environmental exposure, lack of

financial resources to support the pre-planned capital

infrastructure replacements, and lack of the facilities design

adherence to current building codes. According to USACE, the

replacement of all GMHA facilities is required to ensure renewed

compliance with hospital accreditation standards and to protect

the life, health, and safety of staff, patients, and visitors.

(c) I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that the DPHSS has not been

occupying its main building in Mangilao due to an electrical fire

caused by aged electrical wires within the building. DPHSS

services have been relocated to various commercial rentals and

Government of Guam buildings in order to provide services to the

people of Guam. The Mangilao facility of DPHSS has been

deemed unsafe by the Chief of the Guam Fire Department as their

investigation shows that multiple electrical wiring issues are

present due to the age of the structure as it was built in 1973.

(d) I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that DPHSS should have a

central facility for the people of Guam to have better access to

public health and social services. The Mangilao facility of DPHSS

is deemed dangerous and hazardous, and rehabilitation is not

possible. It is necessary for DPHSS to ensure that services are

available for the people of Guam which they have been providing,

with services scattered in different locations on the island.

(e) I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that with the growing

population of the island of Guam, the GBHWC needs to expand

their facilities as their services evolve to meet the needs of our

community. The main facility of GBHWC has outgrown its main

building as the staff and patient populations have increased. The

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growing population of our island has caused the GBHWC to

actively operate its services, but with the lack of facilities within

their main building, various GBHWC services are scattered

throughout the island; and it is deemed necessary for the

Government of Guam to provide behavioral health and wellness

services to our people as social issues are present within our

community.

(f) Furthermore, I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that the

pandemic has reinforced the need for better healthcare facilities,

such as the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority facilities, the

Department of Public Health and Social Services main building,

and the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center facilities. I

Maga’hågan Guåhan stated that she intends to allocate Three

Hundred Million Dollars ($300,000,000) from the American

Rescue Plan to construct a new hospital facility. The U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers has stated that the replacement of the GMHA

facility would cost an estimated Seven Hundred Forty-three

Million Dollars ($743,000,000), including Twenty-one Million

Dollars ($21,000,000) for rehabilitation of the current facility to

receive accreditation. The American Rescue Plan also allows for

Earned Income Tax Credits to be reimbursed to Guam at an

estimated Sixty Million Dollars ($60,000,000) annually, of which

an estimate of no more than Thirty-five Million Dollars

($35,000,000) would be allocated for the payments of the lease-

back agreement annually.

(g) It is the intent of I Liheslaturan Guåhan to provide the

people of Guam with state-of-the-art healthcare facilities which

will be designed to include all healthcare agencies within the

Guam Twenty-First Century Healthcare Center. The creation of

the Guam Twenty-First Century Healthcare Center is to ensure

that all healthcare agencies have proper facilities that follow

accreditation standards, guidelines promulgated by the Centers for

Medicare and Medicaid Services, and applicable codes. It will also

allow for Guam to become the regional healthcare hub of

Micronesia as it will open up opportunities for medical training

and tourism, to and from, other Pacific islands, while increasing

medical professional services and capacity within the entire

region.

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(h) In an effort to overcome financing hurdles, and to provide

for the healthcare needs of the people of Guam, I Liheslaturan

Guåhan desires to authorize the Government of Guam to enter

into a contract for the design, build, finance, lease, transfer and

long-term capital maintenance of the Guam Twenty-First Century

Healthcare Center with private sector contractors who can provide

long-term financing.

(i) To facilitate the financing, design, construction, and

maintenance of the Guam Twenty-First Century Healthcare

Center envisioned by this Act, the Government of Guam will be

authorized to execute a lease agreement of existing property under

its inventory for up to forty (40) years on which the Guam

Twenty-First Century Healthcare Center will be constructed, and

the forty (40) year term shall begin immediately after the design,

permitting, and construction phase has been completed.

(j) The lease of the Government of Guam property will be to

the contractor/developer, who will design and construct the Guam

Twenty-First Century Healthcare Center and provide funding for

the design and construction through appropriations received from

the reimbursement of the Earned Income Tax Credit for Fiscal

Year 2022 and prospective appropriations from the General Fund

annually thereafter. Upon completion of the construction, the

facilities will be leased back to the Government of Guam for a

period not to exceed the initial ground lease to the Guam

Economic Development Authority and/or the contractor/

developer over which time the Government of Guam will

amortize, as lease payments to the Guam Economic Development

Authority and/or the contractor/developer, the cost of the

financing, design, construction, and related expenses of the Guam

Twenty-First Century Healthcare Center.

(k) The contractor/developer will also be responsible for the

capital maintenance and repair of the Guam Twenty-First Century

Healthcare Center constructed under this Act, whose costs shall

be paid by the Government of Guam as provided for under this

Act. At the expiration of the lease-back period, the Government

of Guam real property and the Guam Twenty-First Century

Healthcare Center constructed on the Government of Guam real

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property will revert to the Government of Guam with no further

obligations to the Guam Economic Development Authority and/or

the contractor/developer.

2022 NOTE: Subsection designations added pursuant to the authority of

1 GCA § 1606.