The long awaited Behavioral Health Center, which will include a drug rehabilitation facility, was one of three projects for which ground was broken on Tuesday.
The others are the expansion of the Tafuna Community Health Center and the new Veterinarian Clinic.
The Behavioral Health Center will be built at the Lions Park near where the new hospital was to be constructed. The architect for the new building is William Spitzenberg and bids are currently being advertised for the construction phase. More than $20 million has been allocated for the project— $5 million of which is for a dementia friendly project.
Tafuna Health Center Expansion
The Veterinarian Clinic will be built at the site of the current clinic near the Department of Agriculture compound. The project cost $2.49 million and the contractor is Niu Construction, headed by Basil Ake.
The expansion of the Tafuna Community Health Center, which serves the most populated part of the island, the Western District, has a budget of $13.4 million and the contractor is PJ Construction headed by Satele Iupeli Kava.
The three projects are under the Department of Health and are all funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Director of Health Dr. Saipele Fuimaono said DoH continually strives to improve facilities and services to better serve the people of American Samoa.
Governor Pulaalii Nikolao Pula was very pleased that the Behavioral Health Center is taking form, as the territory is in need of this type of facility particularly with the island’s drug problem.
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The Governor has welcomed the construction of a new veterinarian clinic to better take care of the animal population, as well as for the expansion of the Tafuna Community Health Center.
He stressed that it was important for the Department of Health to work together in unity with the LBJ Hospital, and underscored the role of DoH in preventive health care.
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