While there has been much talk about money woes and hiring practices at LBJ Medical Center, there are also three major federally funded infrastructure projects ongoing at the medical center — totaling more than $15 million — as cited in the hospital’s second quarter performance report for fiscal year 2014.

DIALYSIS UNIT

With the increase in the number of dialysis patients in American Samoa, LBJ hospital is going through renovation and expansion of the Dialysis Unit, with construction scheduled to be completed by September next year at a cost of $2.6 million.

Phase one of the project, which has been awarded to APECS company, calls for the expansion and renovation of existing office space to install 16 more dialysis chairs to  accommodate the increasing number of patients requiring dialysis.

According to the hospital report, the annual growth rate of patients needing this service over the past five years “exceeds an alarming 15% per year”. During the second quarter, there were 4,702 dialysis patient visits to the unit, compared to 4,010 patient visits in the first quarter.

The report says that phase one should be completed in August this year, when dialysis services will be temporarily relocated prior to proceeding with phase two, which is scheduled for completion in September 2015.

Phase two includes renovation of the 16 existing chairs and installation of a new air conditioning system, a new ceiling and a new vinyl floor.

A total of 32 chairs plus seven currently in use at the old conference room, will provide a total dialysis patient care capacity of 39 chairs per treatment shift, when the entire project is completed, the report says.

LBJ says this project is designed to meet federal standards, with U.S. Center for Medical and Medicare (CMS) onsite inspection and approval required prior to operating the newly expanded unit.

MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY

Another major project, costing $3.24 million and already contracted to Paramount Builders, is the construction of the new Forensic Psychiatric Facility, or mental health facility. The project was transferred to LBJ in FY 2013.

The project originally began under the departments of Public Works, Health and Public Safety, working with the Criminal Justice Planning Agency, but the LBJ report says that following pressure from the High Court to get the delayed project moving forward, these stakeholders were prompted to ask LBJ to take the lead on the design and construction of the new facility.

LBJ says any remaining funds outside of construction will be used to purchase equipment and furniture to operate this new state-of-the-art mental health speciality hospital to serve the immediate needs of incarcerated individuals, as well as the territory’s general population mental health needs on both a short-term and long-term basis.

“This new free-standing psychiatric hospital will be comprised of 10 private, secure patient rooms, outpatient counseling and treatment rooms and all supporting areas,” it says, adding that the project is to be completed by March next year.

MATERNITY UNIT

The largest project, in terms of cost with a price tag of $10 million, is the design and renovation of the Maternity, Delivery and Nursery units. A contractor has not yet been awarded the project, but it is expected to last 18 months, once construction gets underway. Projected completion date is July 2016.

LBJ says this project is divided in phases to enable the hospital to temporarily relocate each inpatient service to avoid any disruption to patient care during the construction period. It also pointed out these particular areas of the hospital — covered in the renovation — were heavily cited for “major federal government compliance violations” during the July 2010 inspection by CMS.

According to the report, CMS had cited these areas “due to significant safety issues, privacy issues, and environmental issues such as inadequate air circulation and inadequate support systems that satisfy federal patient care requirements.”

It also says that this project was designed to meet all federal requirements as a result of the CMS citations and will be inspected by CMS before being used.

LBJ warned that this project needs to be completed as soon as possible because costs will continue to increase annually due to inflation.