LBJ CEO stands firm on aims of LBJ’s nurse recruitment program

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Chief Executive Officer of LBJ hospital “stands by resolutely” with his earlier statement of facts regarding the reason behind hiring nurses from Fiji and the Philippines instead of neighboring Samoa.

“To address LBJ's lingering shortage-of-nursing conundrum, several plans were hatched.

“One of which was the recruitment of foreign nurses from Samoa, Fiji, Philippines, and elsewhere, as a stopgap and temporary measure,” said Moefaauo Bill Emmsly in a statement of clarification issued yesterday.

The statement was addressed to the director of KVZK- TV news, Tosimaea Tupua.

Samoa News reached out to the CEO for comments earlier this week, but to date there has been no response to Samoa News, after the president of Samoa’s Nurses Association, Solialofi Papalii hit back at Moefaauo’s “degrading comments” on the curriculum of the nursing school at the National University of Samoa.

Moefaauo told private media in a press conference last month that a review of the curriculum used at the NUS nursing program showed it is not up to par with U.S licensing standards for nurses and this would be a challenge to acquire U.S certification for nurses from Samoa.

According to the CEO, LBJ will need to work with NUS on the nursing program in order for the hospital to hire from Samoa.

 “What we need is to put together a team to send to Samoa to help build a curriculum to an acceptable level that we can hire from Samoa.”

This did not sit well with Papalii.

She called on the CEO to apologize for his “unnecessary” comments that Papalii considered “degrading remarks regarding the standard of the nursing qualifications in Samoa.”

According to the LBJ CEO, before they had plans to hire from Samoa, Fiji and the Philippines, a special meeting between LBJ's top officials' and ASCC's Nursing Program director was convened on or about September 9, 2022, to establish the feasibility of LBJ‘s plan from an “educational, credentialing, and licensing” standpoint before said plan was launched.

“Naturally, on top of LBJ's agenda was the recruitment of nurses from Samoa firstly for obvious reasons — advantages in language and culture, which are highly desirable for LBJ's purposes.

“Thus, when initially queried about Samoa's nursing curriculum, we were informed by the program administrator that, ‘Samoa's nursing curriculum is not equivalent to ours because American Samoa's curriculum is based on American Standards thus, subject to additional evaluation’.”

He said similarly, a review of Fiji's nursing curriculum was appraised by the program administrator and found to be satisfactory in terms of “equivalences”, giving LBJ the “green-light” to proceed.

“As such, LBJ began its conscription efforts earnestly and alternatively from Fiji, as it were.

“On the other hand, the terms to recruit nurses from the Philippines has yet to be finalized, as it is currently being re-negotiated, due to a ‘moratorium’ placed by the Philippine government to stop the rapid exodus of professionals, artisans, and tradesmen, including nursing from exiting their country.

“Apparently, such massive losses have greatly impacted the Philippine's workforce strengths.”

Moefaauo said on this basis and background: “LBJ stands by resolutely with its earlier statement of facts and obliged to remain firm with circumstances surrounding said events as described above, despite attempts to take LBJ's previous statements, in part or in whole, out of context and with apparent overtones of embellishment of the same.”

Copied in the letter was Governor Lemanu P. S Mauga; Chief of Staff Loa Tuimavave Tauapa'i Laupola; Chairman Board of Directors, American Samoa Medical Center Authority Dr. Malouamaua Tuiolosega, Program Director of Nursing, American Samoa Community College (ASCC) Simamao F. Tuato'o, MSN, RN, Chief of Nursing LBJ Tropical Medical Center and Dr. Akapusi Ledua, Acting Chief Medical Officer LBJ Tropical Medical Center.