Guam Memorial Hospital says oxygen deliveries restored, urges investment in local production

Guam Memorial Hospital officials told the Legislature’s Committee on Health and Veterans Affairs on April 6 that the hospital has resumed normal operations after a March 17 disruption to the island’s only liquid‑oxygen supplier forced the facility to curb elective surgeries and conserve supply.

Interim CEO Jolene Ugen led senators on a hospital tour and described the response. Hospital executives said peak use in the week of the disruption averaged about 245 gallons per day; conservation measures and clinical adjustments lowered use to roughly 140 gallons per day, stretching onsite inventories. Hospital staff estimated the two onsite tanks together hold about 4,000 gallons and said, without conservation, available oxygen would have lasted roughly five days at peak consumption.

Why it matters: Liquid oxygen is essential for surgeries, ventilated patients and other inpatient care; a late delivery or vendor outage can create immediate clinical risk for multiple facilities on Guam because the supplier also serves other hospitals and clinics.

How the hospital responded and what it plans: GMH convened an incident command, engaged respiratory therapists to reassess patient needs, coordinated with Guam Regional Medical City and the naval hospital, and notified the governor’s office and other government partners to prepare contingency support. GMH said it also contacted the congressional delegate’s office earlier this year to request federal funds for a cryogenic oxygen plant that would generate liquid oxygen on site.

GMH officials estimated a mid‑range cryogenic plant would cost about $2 million and produce roughly 100 gallons of liquid oxygen per day — an incremental but not complete replacement of vendor deliveries. Hospital leaders said the proposed plant would add local redundancy and could, if capacity allowed, produce extra supply for sale or distribution to other facilities.

What happens next: Senators pressed for more specifics on timelines, storage capacity and coordination with federal and military partners. GMH pledged to provide further details to the committee and reiterated that building local production is part of a broader strategy to avoid future single‑vendor vulnerabilities.

Representative quotes and attributions: Senator Sabrina Solless Matsinani opened the hearing, saying the panel’s purpose was to “hear directly from hospital leadership and staff” about oxygen, operations and other issues. CFO Yuka Heninova and interim CEO Jolene Ugen provided operational figures and responded to questions about contingency steps and funding requests.

Ending: GMH told the committee it had moved from crisis conservation back to normal operations and is working with the delegate’s office and other partners on funding and technical planning for on‑island oxygen production. The committee requested documentation and follow‑up on capacity, cost and project timelines.