The CEO of the LBJ Hospital, Faumuiina John Faumuina Jr., has explained plans to expand and upgrade the LBJ Hospital.
He said an architectural team from GLHN in Arizona is set to arrive March 14 and will spend a week here to meet with staff and the management of LBJ to get some feed back regarding the work flow as well as assessing existing support systems at the hospital.
These systems include electrical, hot water, medical gas and water supply systems to ensure they have enough capacity to support new renovation and expansion work.
Since there had been plans by the administration to build a hospital at Tafuna we asked the LBJ CEO if those plans were still in the pipeline.
Faumuina explained that Governor Lolo Moliga had directed LBJ to go ahead and renovate and expand the existing hospital to serve the territory for the next 20 to 30 years.
He said there will be no new hospital elsewhere…the hospital will stay at the existing site in Fagaalu.
The plan for the existing facility is to build up.
The architectural firm from Arziona will be on site not only to look at the overall Master Plan for LBJ but specifically for the design of a new ICU, nursing offices, MIS, and the Hyperbaric Clinic that will be constructed between the Pediatric Ward and the Swing Space.
This will be a two story building with the ICU located on the top floor and the Nursing Offices, MIS, and the Hyperbaric Clinic occupying the bottom floor.
Future plans for LBJ is that all in-patient wards will be moved above ground (second floor)… this will free up the ground level for more parking spaces and for out-patient clinics and other ancillary support services.
Faumuina said they are currently in the planning stage but added that health care construction is expensive because of the materials required.
He said, “Everything must meet standards, so for the New ICU, Nursing Offices, MIS and Hyperbaric Clinic, you are looking at around $20-25 million”.
This rough estimate includes furniture and equipment.
The design work for the hospital upgrade project should be completed by July and construction should begin before the end of the year.
