The Primary Care Clinic will not be closed as reported by KHJ news, rather it’s name is being changed to “Non Urgent Clinic (NUC), an extension of the Emergency Room” said Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Iotamo Saleapaga in an interview with Samoa News yesterday afternoon.

Saleapaga told Samoa News the purpose for this change is due to complaints from the public on the long wait at the hospital’s Emergency Room, and as a result the hospital board and its directors came up with this change.

Samoa News was provided with a copy of the memo, in support of this change by the hospital.

According to the memo issued last Friday, Dec. 5th, “For many years the people of American Samoa have been complaining to the LBJ administrator and to members of the Legislature about the prolonged waiting times at the hospital ER. The current practice in the ER department is based on the triage system.”

The memo says that the triage system is designed to prioritize patients based on the severity of their condition, thereby giving those with the most critical status precedence over those less critical.

“Within a triage severity level, patients are then seen on a first come, first served basis,” it states.

The memo signed by the CMO says that the ER is saturated with patients with serious acute conditions, consequently patients with less serious, specific and uncomplicated problems frequently experience prolonged waiting times.

The memo says that it is the beginning of the fiscal year 2015, and the hospital has _________________innovative developments that support LBJ hospital’s mission, which is to “provide patient focused, high quality, cost effective health care and related services that address the health needs of the people we serve.”

One of the changes is the implementation of the new extension to the ER Department, and this is the NUC that replaces the Primary Care Clinic.

Saleapaga in his memo says that the main objective of this NUC is to curtail and minimize the waiting time for patients with non urgent conditions and this new approach will also mitigate overcrowding in the ER.

The NUC provides emergency level medical care for minor illnesses and injuries such as— but not limited to — ear complaints; cough symptoms; sore throat; back pain; urinary tract infections (without significant abdominal pain of discharge); rashes; suture removal; wound check; prescription refills, effective on October 15, 2014 and will be open from 7:30a.m. to 8:00p.m.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Annie Fuavai, who was also present, told Samoa News that the physicians at the Primary Care Clinic along with their working staff were offered to either transfer to another department or remain with the NUC, which is now under the ER.

Fuavai confirmed that some of the physicians did not want to move to other wards rather they wanted to remain with NUC, formerly known as the Primary Care Clinic.

She told Samoa News that with any change there will be challenges but this move by the hospital was necessary in the attempt to meet patient’s needs. Fuavai stated, “There will be no more appointment scheduling, like how it was with the Primary Care Clinic, rather people will pay to see the doctor at ER and then undergo the triage process. From there, the nurses will decide whether to transfer that patient to the NUC or remain at the ER.

Fuavai said that for patients who are seen at the NUC who need to return for a follow up or referral to other wards or clinics, that can be done, too.

The deputy CMO said the patients who were being seen at the ‘old’ Primary Care Clinic will be referred to the medical clinic for their follow up. She stated that in the past the services given by the Primary Care were duplicated in the Medical Clinic — as they were providing the same services.

Fuavai hopes that with these new changes the hospital will see positive change and to top it off — no more long waiting at the ER.

BACKGROUND

Samoa News notes that as an alternative, there are primary care clinics now operating under the purview of the Department of Health and are currently located in the Tafuna and Fagaalu Health Centers. For times and services offered, these DoH health centers can be reached by telephone for further information.

Gov. Lolo M. Moliga, in his State of the Territory Address this year, said that his administration was looking to clinics, including primary care, to be transferred to the DoH, leaving the LBJ hospital to focus their resources on patient care.