The Commonwealth Health Centre in the Northern Marianas is bracing itself for another round of staff cuts after being allocated only 1.9 million US dollars in the 2013 fiscal year budget.
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation decided to implement more workforce cuts after the Legislature failed to grant the 10 million it requested for its operations for the next 12 months.
The Corporation is also looking at turning the Rota and Tinian health centers into outpatient clinics as a result of budget constraints.
The Healthcare Corporation board chairperson Joaquin Torres and CEO Juan Babauta says the 1.9 million is considerably less than the 5-million seed money the now autonomous agency got in the 2012 fiscal year.
The Legislature allocated only 1.9 million in anticipation of the 7-million line of credit earlier approved for the Corporation but the Marianas Public Land Trust board of trustees says until the Corporation is in a better financial position, the additional credit will not be released.
