Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero’s office on Sunday said Guam didn’t lose federal American Rescue Plan funds.
Adelup issued the statement in response to what it described as misleading claims from Sen. Therese Terlaje regarding ARP funds allocated to Guam Memorial Hospital.
“The reality is clear: No ARP funds were lost by the people of Guam,” the governor’s office said.
Adelup said funds initially designated for GMH capital improvement projects were not obligated in compliance with U.S. Treasury guidelines due to technical challenges, including procurement and design issues.
“Recognizing these constraints, the administration took responsible action to reallocate these ARP monies not obligated by the statutory deadline, to pay down other operational liabilities at GMH—freeing up hospital funds for approved projects,” Adelup said.
The statement went on to say, “It is disappointing, though not surprising, that the former Health Committee chair has chosen yet again to attack the hardworking men and women of GMH instead of addressing the real obstacles facing our healthcare system.”
Adelup said Terlaje has spent years in the Legislature criticizing GMH, “yet has failed to take meaningful steps to fix our broken procurement laws or to streamline the process by which vital hospital projects are delivered.”
“Instead of offering solutions, she continues to play politics—scoring points by declaring GMH ‘broken’ while spending all her time ensuring it stays that way,” Adelup said. “Thanks to efforts led by Sen. Terlaje, the people of Guam lost the possibility of a new public hospital funded in partnership with the Department of Defense. Now the senator has the temerity to call out the frailty of GMH’s facilities.”
The governor’s office said if Terlaje was truly committed to strengthening GMH, she would use her position to pass legislation that expedites procurement and ensures that funding for critical projects is effectively deployed.
“Instead, she has a record of making ghost appropriations—funds promised but never secured—and weaponizing criticism rather than delivering real policy solutions,” Adelup added. “The people of Guam deserve accountability and leadership that prioritizes solutions over political theater.”
This comes after Adelup sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Terlaje over her proposal for a public-private partnership for GMH to “shed light” on the issue, and Terlaje described it as an attempt to distract and question motives of everyone else but the governor.
