Saipan Physician Recruitment at CHC Hospital

I have been recently receiving quite a few recent search inquiries relating to Physican Recruitment. Some of the information on this blog is meant to be informational however I do believe that some of the information is outdated and unfairly biased. Saipan is actually a great place. It does have some wonderful beaches, some of the best people and is the closest thing to an expat lifestyle while still having the protections of U.S. law and being able to earn a U.S. salary. There are complaints about the salary is low, however unlike Guam and the U.S. mainland there is virtually no federal income tax, which is quite a savings. Also maids and nannys are available and inexpensive (due to the low minimum wage), and even some nurses at CHC hospital have their own live in maid. As far as housing, there are executive style houses for rent, and if you really think you will stay for a while, for 55yr lease.
Saipan recently began being able to process the J1 visa for U.S. licensed residents. Instead of working in a rural town in West Virgina, you may be considerably more happy working in Saipan.

****UPDATE**** 6-5-10
CHC is currently processing an application to participate in the Conrad 30 J1 visa program. I will post any new information as soon as I hear anything about it. The ability to recruit under the H-1 visa (unlimited cap) does exist as of 4-1-10.

****UPDATE**** 2-6-11
CHC is rumored to be hiring a number of foreign residents under the J1 visa to start after the completion of their residencies in May. This will be welcome news to CHC who recently lost the medical director, Dr. Shirish Balachandra.

****UPDATE*** 4-16-11
CHC has recently hired 4 doctors including an anesthesiologist and a family practicioner. The salaries were substantially higher than reported non-locum contracts. Maybe the CNMI realizes that they need to pay medical professionals a fair salary.

CHC Needs 7 more doctors

Read complete article at Marianas Variety

I actually think that CHC might actually need a lot more than 7 doctors. I mentioned the J-visa option in a previous post, and I think that it is a viable option for recruiting doctors. I disagree with the article about not being able to apply for the waivers now. Although USCIS is conflicting at times, I think that CHC could start to process the visa applications now to begin after November 28th. It could easily take 4-5 months for the applications to go thorough, which would give the goverment time to approve the above salary caps.