Guam Memorial Hosp Authority

Description

About Guam Memorial Hosp Authority
Located in Oka Tamuning Guam Memorial Hospital is Guams only public hospital with a licensed bed capacity of 158 acute care beds plus 40 licensed longterm care beds at its Skilled Nursing Facility located in Barrigada Heights The availability of beds for actual admissions at both facilities necessarily varies in accordance with the availability of fully trained and licensed staff

Guam Memorial Hospital was constructed at Oka Point in 1956 representing a major change in the history of the local governments role in the delivery of medical care to the community For many years the US government provided free hospital and health care services to the people of Guam The US Naval forces assumed responsibility for the islands medical needs at the turn of the 20th century when the United States took formal possession of Guam These services continued with the US Navys delivery of care after World War II and culminated with their donation of GMH facility to the Government of Guams Department of Public Health and Welfare This 230bed hospital offered acute psychiatric and longterm care services

In 1964 the Guam Memorial Hospital was established as a line agency of the Government of Guams executive branch This creation separated the administration of hospital services from community health services provided by the Department of Public Health and Welfare Thirteen years later in 1977 the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority was created as a public corporation and has since been operating as a governmental nonprofit institution serving the people of Guam under the governance of a ninemember Board of Trustees

In 1974 the local and federal governments plans to replace the rapidly deteriorating Guam Memorial Hospital facility began to take root The US Department of the Interior purchased and transferred the nearby Medical Center of the Marianas to the Government of Guam to serve as the new Guam Memorial Hospital The Medical Center of the Marianas facility was initially constructed by the Catholic Diocese to serve as a private maternalchild health facility Financial difficulties however prompted the Diocese to consider the sale of the facility to meet the governments need to replace its old facility at Oka Point Along with the funds for the initial purchase of this facility federal funds also were provided for the expansion of the facility to allow for the consolidation of all services on a single campus Relocated to the new facility by 1978 were all the acute care hospital services and the Skilled Nursing Unit in 1987 In 1996 GMHA completed construction of its Skilled Nursing Facility in Barrigada Heights with a capacity of 60 longterm care beds

In 2010 Guam Memorial Hospital received full accreditation by The Joint Commission a nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals worldwide GMH lost its accreditation in the early 1980s The accreditation does not include the offsite Skilled Nursing Facility which as a longterm care program falls under separate accreditation guidelines

Our Mission Statement
To provide quality patient care in a safe environment