The Guam Governor's Office hopes to relocate Guam Memorial Hospital in Tamuning, seen here on Dec. 11, 2022, to Mangilao as part of a proposed medical complex. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Guam is advancing plans to build a $743 million medical complex aimed at improving health care for its civilian and military populations, according to a spokeswoman for Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero.
The U.S. territory’s only public hospital, Guam Memorial in Tamuning, would relocate to a new site in the Barrigada-Mangilao area, about five miles southeast, Krystal Paco-San Agustin told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
The proposed Guam Medical Complex is intended to counter the island’s geographic isolation and chronic health care shortages with a state-of-the-art facility, she said.
The cost to build the complex is slightly less than the $760 million price tag to renovate infrastructure such as the aging Guam Memorial Hospital, which the U.S. Government Accountability Office described in an April 3 report as in “severe disrepair.”
“Systemic failures due to environmental exposure, aging and insufficient funding for necessary repairs” have left the hospital barely functional, according to the report.
Paco-San Agustin said that while the project is in its early stages, environmental assessments, topographic studies and preliminary design work are already underway. A zoning notice for the new site was issued last week.
“A more definitive construction timeline will emerge once the environmental permitting process and design phase are complete, but the Governor’s Office is committed to advancing the project with urgency and transparency,” she said.
The Guam Governor's Office plans to build a large medical complex near Mangilao as the island attempts to address health care shortfalls. (Guam Governor's Office)
Leon Guerrero has committed $104 million in American Rescue Plan funds to the project and is seeking additional support through federal aid, local resources and potential public-private partnerships, Paco-San Agustin said.
The new facility would feature 250 to 300 beds, expanded trauma and emergency services, modern surgical suites, a women’s and children’s center, and advanced diagnostic labs.
Its location along Route 15 — about 10 miles from Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam and eight miles from the Marine Corps’ Camp Blaz — was selected for its central access to both civilian and military populations.
Guam’s military health infrastructure includes Naval Hospital Guam, Apra Harbor Clinic, and the 36th Medical Group’s clinic at Andersen. A fourth facility at the newly constructed Camp Blaz is expected to open this fall but will serve only active-duty patients.
DOD civilian employees are limited to space-available appointments, adding further stress to Guam’s already burdened health system. Roughly 22,000 U.S. military personnel live on the island, including around 1,000 civilian employees and contractors.
The DOD population is expected to grow to 35,000 by 2037, according to the Guam Daily Post, citing a Defense Department briefing.
Guam has 1.9 hospital beds per 1,000 residents — below the U.S. average of 2.7 reported by the World Health Organization in 2020. The island also struggles with staffing shortages, aging infrastructure and limited access to specialty care.
Its remote location — 1,600 miles from Japan or the Philippines and 3,800 miles from Hawaii — contributes to its classification as medically underserved by the U.S. government. Maternity care is particularly scarce, according to the GAO.
Adding to the challenge is Guam’s high cost of living — 41% above the U.S. average — and income levels that leave many ineligible for Medicaid, according to 2021 congressional testimony from Guam’s Department of Public Health and Social Services.
Paco-San Agustin said the new medical complex is also intended to help recruit health care specialists to the island.
