This week on My Jungle Voices, we tackled an issue that has dragged on for years but feels more urgent than ever: Guam Memorial Hospital. The facility is more than 50 years old, and large sections are literally uninhabitable, whether or not they’re still being used. As we talked through the latest developments, we kept coming back to the same truth —this hospital is dying, and continuing to patch it together with “bandage fixes” isn’t a plan. It’s avoidance.

What sparked the conversation was the newest twist in the long-delayed rebuild. The administration says the Attorney General is obstructing progress — not on legal grounds, but based on personal objections to the chosen site in Mangilao. Meanwhile, lawmakers failed to pass a measure that would’ve allowed the project to move forward without the AG’s signature. And now, Guam risks losing more than $100 million in federal funding earmarked specifically for this project. The clock is ticking.

The question of location — Mangilao vs. Tamuning — has become a political football, even though much of the reasoning for Mangilao is practical: central access for north and south, and free land from the federal government. Many of the foundational issues for a major capital project — money and land — have already been solved. What’s stopping progress now is politics, personalities, and the fear that one administration or another will get the “legacy” credit.

We also talked about something more painful: the divide between those who can afford to fly off-island for care and those who can’t.