Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In efforts to ensure that nurses and doctors “don’t walk out from the hospital”, LBJ’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Akapusi Ledua said the management should “walk the talk”.

Dr Ledua told Samoa News leaders of the hospital should be “honest” with their staff.

“What we should do as leaders is to talk with our staff — in this case we need to talk with our nurses and understand their concerns.  As we understand the concern, listen to them and whatever we tell them that we will do as leaders — we have to deliver that.

“And that will earn their trust,” said Dr Ledua.

Prior to last Christmas, close to 50 nurses went on strike picketing along the Faga’alu road leading up to LBJ hospital over unpaid overtime and not getting their promised increment as announced by the hospital management and board earlier in December. More than 20 nurses did not attend their shifts at the hospital over the weekend as a way of expressing their disappointment with decisions made by the LBJ Hospital management.

Dr Ledua says the nurses and doctors are the backbone of the hospital.

“When they have our trust, they will follow through with the deliverables, as expected of nurses.

“I will say that moving forward from here that is what we're going to do — as a leaders, we're going to reach out to the nurses.

“As a physician I understand the nurses role well. I understand them and understand what they go through I understand their concerns and we know how to deal with the problems and the issues that they have.

“And we're definitely going to address those issues in moving forward so that they will gain our trust and we will work together as one to deliver a healthcare that all people need,” said the Acting CEO.

Dr Ledua was appointed acting CEO after the former CEO of hospital resigned.

The former CEO had scolded the nurses in the hospital’s newsletter after nurses walked out from the LBJ hospital, which led to calls from lawmakers as well as those in the public to push for his resignation.

In his criticism of the striking nurses, the former CEO said that while “the nurses deserve the salary adjustment” — “but they were not patient” and “… what they did was uncalled for; I mean it’s their right, but they should have been patient.”