(Office of the Governor) — The Commonwealth Medicaid Agency recently relocated from Capital Hill to Garapan in October to better serve its beneficiaries, providers, and CNMI community.
“The Commonwealth Medicaid Agency currently serves more than 19,000 beneficiaries in our community,” said George Cruz, CMA director. “After weeks of meetings with our local Medicaid staff and consulting with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the spring, we concluded that the current location was not adequate, posed a fire hazard, and had unsafe conditions for those we served and our staff.”
The move was scheduled to occur in multiple phases in late fall. The goal was to have a seamless transition in services from the previous location to the new one. The move was not always ‘smooth sailing’ as some would call it.
“We originally planned to be fully settled into the Horiguchi Building at the end of August,” said Jennalyd Babauta, the executive assistant for the CMA director and the overall project manager for the move. “The move didn’t go according to plan…. We learned along the way and have adjusted our timeliness in order to keep to those goals as realistic as possible.”
Despite the challenges, however, CMA staff were grateful for the interagency cooperation they received.
“We [Medicaid] contracted the Department of Corrections to provide the logistical transportation of equipment from Capital Hill to Garapan,” Cruz said. “With the transport, DOC also spearheaded the renovation of the office spaces at Horiguchi.”
The new area has a total combined space of approximately 12,900 square feet compared to the previous location that only had about 4,000 square feet.
“We realized the need to increase our personnel in order to expand our services,” Cruz said. “The staff has doubled since January of this year…thanks to the support of the administration and our federal partners. With this addition of the new workspace, we are able to accommodate the current and new beneficiaries.”
The additional staff also assisted the agency in meeting federal mandates and requirements. Program Integrity’s, which oversees the program compliance in beneficiaries and providers, also ensures internal staff compliance with federal mandate criteria. The Eligibility & Enrollment or E&E section, along with the Claims & Audit, also increased in staff.
Because of the increase in staff, the CMA is now able to extend its hours of operation to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and closed to walk-ins on Fridays. The Rota and Tinian offices will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed for lunch.
“We used to be open to customers from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” said Kayleen Deleon Guerrero, the E&E manager. “This was because we were very backlogged on processing enrollment. Now that we have more personnel, better processes, and equipment, we are able to provide that service all day,” Deleon Guerrero said.
The new centralized location offers all stakeholders more benefits.
“With our new location we are able to offer easier access and better parking for our beneficiaries,” Cruz said. “We are now in Garapan…which means we are more centralized. This will make it easier for beneficiaries to access our services.”
With the relocation, the CMA is expecting to modernize many of its online systems in multiple phases to better serve the community.
The Medicaid Enterprise Systems Division is currently working on the E&E online system that will allow beneficiaries to register without having to come to the Medicaid office, Cruz said. This will give people more flexibility and save them time.
The CMA is dedicated to improving the health of individuals and families in the Northern Mariana Islands. Through its services, it aims to provide equitable access to healthcare. Under CNMI Public Law 21-28, the CMA was established as an independent agency under the Office of the Governor.
For general information or inquiries, the public can contact the CMA at (670) 664-4880 or via email at info@cnmimedicaid.org/. To learn more about the CMA, visit www.cnmimedicaid.org/.
