* i as . Ut te cake he otes for Meeting Son Notes ERDA - DOL reg, ek . 401654 16 May 1977 Future of BNL Medical Program in the Marshalls Under the present circumstances with Dr. Knudsen retiring from the program at the end of this year, there are two apparent alternatives: 1) The program can probably be satisfactorily administered by one physician stationed at BNL, eliminating the position of Resident Physician. Immediate replacement for Conard (who retires in 14 years, January 1979) should be sought. Program leader, in addition to Administrative responsibilities, would probably be able to make two trips a year to the Marshall Islands one in September and organize and carry out the annual medical examinations in March. This would eliminate two quarterly visits and the vacutun would hopefully be filled by T.T. 2) The second recourse is to continue the position of Resident Physician and thus continue the quarterly trips to the Outer Islands. This would require recruiting a second physician. In favor of the first alternative is the fact that the position of Resident Physician has in many ways been unsatisfactory. ‘The physician spends most of his time at Kwajalein and apart from his responsibilities to the exposed Rongelap and Utiri& people at Ebeye, he has considerable time on his hands to help out in the hospital there. Both Knudsen and Kotrady have complained that their position with regard to practice at Ebeye and Majuro is without official status with no definite position in the existing hospital. programs. Now that the status of the Ebeye Hospital is being upgraded and to be administered by Kwajalein, the situation may be even more complex, In view of the recent difficulties that have developed it may not be so easy to sell a position on the job in the Islands. On the other hand, if the quarterly medical service, instituted by ERDA, is reduced, will there be resentment by the people? Will they interpret this as a sort of retaliation? One might ‘not feel as bad about this change as far as the Utirik population is concerned since they helped bring about the present situation, but should the Rongelap people suffer because of this? BEST COPY AVAILABLE Letter to Utirik Magistrate At a meeting with the Utink council in March it was requested that we inform them as soon as possible as to whether or not a substitute physician for Dx. Knudsen would be made available for the quarterly trips. The council indicated that they would try to find a physician themselves if our answer was negative. ‘They were, however, anxious that we continue the annual medical surveys. Attached is a possible answer to their request. ‘The results of deliberations on the future program may affect the letter,