Guam committee hears bill to pay $8.1 million GMH pharmaceutical shortfall; agencies dispute accounting

Senator Sabrina Salas Montanani introduced legislation seeking $8.1 million to "true up" amounts Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMH) says were legally due to its pharmaceutical fund but never delivered.

Montanani told the Committee of the Whole that audited financial statements and Office of Finance and Budget calculations show GMH was shorted across several fiscal years. "It is simply paying what is due," she said, urging colleagues to prioritize patients over process.

The bill would direct that previously collected business privilege tax (BPT) revenue—identified by GMH as the basis for a 6.19% statutory set-aside—be released to the hospital within 30 days to cover vendors and stabilize operations. GMH Chief Financial Officer Yuka Hichenova said the hospital's calculation, taken from audited figures, totals roughly $8.1 million for shortfalls in FY2019, FY2021, FY2022 and FY2023. "We're always short," Hichenova said, adding the hospital would use $3 million for an FY26 operating gap and $5 million to seed a supplies reserve.

Administration and budget officials disputed the straightforwardness of the claim. Edward Byrne, director of the Department of Administration (DOA), said the executive branch has followed budgetary appropriation processes and that transfers to agencies have historically been tied…