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Departments at the CHC


Radiology
Pharmacy
Physical Therapy
Emergency Room

Respiratory Therapy
Nursing
Laboratory


 

Radiology

The Radiology Department is a medium-paced department with a team of 9 certified, experienced and dedicated technologists assisted by 2 clerical staff, working together to deliver safe, effective and professional patient care. We perform over 16,000 exams per year providing CT, Digital R&F, Mammography and Ultrasound services using all GEMS imaging equipment. Our ACR accredited, FDA certified Mammography services are provided daily from 7:30 to 4:30 with CT, X-Ray, and Ultrasound available full-time (24/7) with weekend and call rotations provided. We are located on the second floor of the main CHC building next to the Emergency Department for rapid and efficient response in emergency and trauma cases.

On-site and Tele-Radiology providers link us with Guam, Hawaii, the US Mainland, and the Philippines for radiologist interpretation and consultation. Our cases are some of the most interesting and rewarding you will ever see. We value highly organized, self-motivated, detail oriented and energetic individuals who thrive in an innovative work environment. Here you’ll have the opportunity to combine a unique professional challenge with an unsurpassed quality of life.

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Pharmacy

Our pharmacy department is budgeted for one pharmacy manager, three staff pharmacists, five pharmacy specialists (pharmacist from the Philippines employed here at CHC as advanced pharmacy technicians and handle much of the distribution under the supervision of a CNMI licensed pharmacist), two pharmacy technicians, and three pharmacy inventory management specialists.
 
Briefly, pharmacist duties here at CHC are similar to what you would expect in any small community health center in the U.S. Much of the day is spent interacting with physicians in managing pharmaceutical care, processing physician medication orders and medication requests to the inpatient wards, ambulatory care clinics, and other ancillary departments. We generally do not service outpatient prescriptions other than those related to our Division of Public Health programs and local government operated long term care facilities. General outpatient pharmacy services on the island are provided by privately run pharmacies.
 
I would have to say that our pharmacist are generalists and do not limit their expertise to any one area of practice. Our facility is small enough where our pharmacy is able to operate efficiently out of one main pharmacy located on our main patient care floor. Our pharmacy provides OB/GYN, pediatrics, neonatal intensive care, medical including adult intensive care, surgical, anesthesia, psychiatry, hemodialysis, emergency, oncology, and nutrition related pharmaceutical services. Our pharmacists are involved in various clinical pharmacy activities such as infectious disease and antimicrobial therapy monitoring, pharmacokinetics, renal monitoring, therapeutic drug / laboratory monitoring, adverse drug reaction and medication error reporting and prevention, drug information, and inservice presentation to staff, patients, and community etc. Being a small facility our pharmacists have plenty of opportunity to work closely with our medical staff to positively influence drug therapy management. On average Pharmacist time is approximately 60% dispensing and 40% Clinical. Good clinical skills are highly desirable for our pharmacist.

To be eligible for employment in Saipan as a pharmacist you must have a registered pharmacist license in good standing in at least one U.S. state or in one Canadian Province. We do prefer pharmacists with at least two years of hospital pharmacy experience but in the past have made exceptions based on other skills or training.

Please check out our pharmacy profile at PharmacyOneSource.com by clicking here.
 

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Physical Therapy

Our mission is to provide comprehensive, community-based physical rehabilitation and to promote overall health and wellness in a cost-effective manner. Qualified professionals will render the highest quality of Physical Therapy services possible to patients regardless of race, sex, religion, age or national origin. We are committed to working with the patient and family, physician, nursing, social services, and other members of the health care team as appropriate to develop a care plan that will assist the patient in achieving their goals.

The Physical Therapy Department at Commonwealth Health Center is made up of 4 licensed Physical Therapists, 1 Physical Therapist Aide and 1 Administrative Clerk. Inpatient and outpatient Physical Therapy services are offered between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding CNMI legal holidays.

The outpatient gym consists of 3 plinths, 1 traction table, 2 whirlpools, 1 stairs set, parallel bars, adjustable hand table, paraffin wax bath, weights & pulleys, exercise balls and a variety of other rehabilitation equipment. Treatment areas are separated by curtains and there is a bathroom in the department for transfer/ADL training and fitting of home bath equipment.

An integral part of Physical Therapy here in the CNMI is foot and wound care. Our therapists work closely with staff Physicians and Surgeons in the treatment and education of wound patients and we are currently in the process of developing a Foot Clinic. One of the benefits of working on Saipan is having the opportunity to work with such a varied caseload. In addition to typical conditions treated by PT, the following are also commonly treated in the CNMI:

  • Hemophilia & von Willebrand Disease
  • Diabetic callus & wounds
  • Chronic venous insufficiency & venous ulcers
  • Peripheral arterial disease & arterial ulcers
  • Amputations (incision care, residual limb dressings, transfers & prosthetic training)
  • Burn injuries & scars
  • Autoimmune & rheumatologic conditions (Sweet’s Syndrome, Charcot Marie Tooth Disease)
  • Tobaceous Gout
  • Forrestier’s Disease (DISH)
  • Benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV) & vestibular disorders

Because CHC is a small community hospital and the services in the CNMI are limited, our PTs are responsible for a number of things that would normally fall under the scope of other disciplines, such as:

  • Sharp debridement of wounds
  • Callus and nail filing
  • Splinting
  • Wheelchair measurement & fitting
  • Care of sacral decubitus ulcers

We hold weekly in-services for our staff within the department. Each week our therapists take turns presenting on different educational topics relevant to Physical Therapy practice. The PT department also instructs a monthly inservice on Body Mechanics for hospital staff.

For more information on the department or to inquire about positions available, please contact:

Pam Carhill MPT
Physical Therapy Supervisor, CHC
pt@cnmidph.net
(670) 236-8327

There are currently positions available in this department.
Click here to read more about these and other job openings at the CHC.

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Emergency Room

The Emergency Room, of the Commonwealth Health Center (CHC) sees around 20,000 patients annually. Being the only hospital on this island, the ER handles emergency/urgent cases during the hours of 07:30 to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday. Holidays, weekends, and after regular working hours the ER treats patients with emergency and non-emergency cases. There are 4 treatment beds, 2 observation rooms, 1 trauma room, and 2 exam rooms for non-urgent cases. ER is staffed with a minimum of 4 nurses and 1 ER physician per shift.

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Respiratory Therapy

We are a small department- 7 therapists, including myself as a clinically active manager, when fully staffed.  Because of this the only shift which is covered by more than a solo therapist is the weekday Day shift.  This results in our not doing any routine therapies( no HHN's, MDI's or CPT)- "saving" ourselves for ventilator management, out patient testing (Stress tests, PFT's, Holter Monitoring), ABG's, Codes, staff and patient education, etc.  Since we are the only hospital on island we literally deal with whatever aspect of the patient spectrum rolls through the door, from premies to COPDers.
 
We work a combination of 8 and 12 hour shifts.  At the moment we have 2 therapists who work the Night shift by preference (15% Noc differential) so the only time anyone rotates is to cover for their vacation time.  We get 14 paid holidays and 26 annual leave days per annum.
 
Please feel free to contact me with any and all questions.
 
Regards,
Maureen Sebangiol, RRT
Manager of Respiratory Care
msebangiol@cnmidph.net

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Nursing

The Nursing Department of the Commonwealth Health Center according to the Department of Public Health’s Organizational Chart falls under the direction of the Secretary of Public Health, James U. Hofschneider. Along the same organizational chart, the Deputy Secretary of Hospital Administration (DSHA), Joaquin I. Taitano is directly responsible for the Nursing and other Ancillary Departments. The Nursing Director works under the Supervision of the DSHA and is responsible for the overall functions and operations of the Nursing Department
  • The Nursing Department comprises of the following Units:
  • Labor and Delivery
  • Neonatal Intensive Care
  • Obstetric/Nursery
  • Medical/Surgical
  • Intensive Care
  • Pediatric
  • Psychiatric
  • Operating/Recovery
  • Family Care Clinic
  • Women & Childens’s Clinic
  • Hemodialysis
  • Peritoneal Dialysis
  • Emergency

Most of the Nursing units are operating on a 24/7 basis except, Family Care Clinic, Women and Children’s Clinic, Peritoneal and Hemodialysis Units. Operating/Recovery, Hemodialysis staff are on call status for emergency cases after the regular working hours. Our shift schedules are based on twelve (12) and eight (8) hours shift with the exception of Hemodialysis unit (10 hours shifts).

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Laboratory

The CHC is an 86-bed hospital with ER, Urgent Care, ICU, NICU, L&D and regular hospital wards. Additionally, there are outpatient clinics- internal medicine, pediatric, women's, public health, and a hemodialysis unit. The laboratory provides services for all the areas mentioned above, and is staffed 24/7. Most of the work is performed during the day shift. On second shift, we staff 1 MT or MLT and 1 phlebotomist, and on third shift we staff 1 MT or MLT. The lab performs testing in 5 areas with the instruments designated as follows:

Lab Area Test Methods Instrumentation
Blood Bank ABO Rh type, AB Screen, Crossmatch Tube method
Chemistry Chem 7, Organ panels, Thyroid, TDM, Urine/Body Fluid Dade Behring -- Dimension RXL
Hematology CBC, Body Fluids, Coag Coulter MAXM, ACL 100
Microbiology General Aerobic Microbiology Dade Behring -- Microscan
Urinalysis UA, Hemoocult, HCG Qual Clinitek, CenSlide

If after reading this you are still interested in employment at CHC, you may contact us through the information below:

Phone: (670) 236-8395/8396 Fax: (670) 236-8612 email: chclab1@cnmidph.net


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