To help solve the shortage of attending physician in government hospitals, the US Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Island (CNMI) is planning to hire doctors from other countries particularly in the Philippines.

Governor Benigno Fital of CNMI said that he will declare Department of Public Health under state of emergency to allow the hiring of foreign doctors from outside the US mainland and Canada.

The CNMI will be hiring highly skilled doctors in different field of expertise.

“We will hire based on necessity," said Fitial, who flew to Manila two weeks ago.

Currently, CHC is relying on a US-based headhunters firm for $25,000 per doctor hired from the US and Canada to recruit physicians. However, the number of physician hires is still short of meeting the demands of the CNMI.

The CHC is one of the components of DPH, which also include the Community Guidance Center and the Division of Public Health. Most of the foreign workers at the CHC are Filipinos.

Doctors at DPH are hired only from the US mainland and Canada based on the policy of the CNMI Medical Profession Licensing Board and due to US Medicaid and Medicare requirements.

But the governor said the hiring outside the US and Canada will be a “temporary fix" to the doctor shortage at the only hospital in the CNMI.

Fitial said it is interesting to note that DPH can't hire specialists from the Philippines but it regularly sends CNMI patients to Manila for treatment and other medical care.

Because CNMI is tied with US, it would not be easy for them to hire foreign workers because of the standards and requirements mandated by the US federal government.

The hospital is required to hire US-trained doctors since they are covered with Medicare and Medicaid funding from the US government. 

With the US federal takeover of CNMI immigration set for Nov. 28, DPH said it has been receiving inquiries from off-island doctors willing to work in the CNMI.

Foreign doctors may apply through the J1 visa waiver category which will allow them to work in underserved areas in US with their families.

These potential physicians may come to the CNMI through the J1 visa waiver category, which will allow them to work in underserved areas in the US with their families.

At present, foreign doctors who go to US medical schools and are trained in US-accredited facilities have to go back to their countries and serve there for a number of years.

Without the visa waiver program, physicians must wait for three to four years before they could work elsewhere.