Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Of the $20 million allocated to build the new 40-bed hospital in Tafuna, just over $424,000 in expenditures have been recorded as of June 30, 2023, according to the American Samoa 2023 Recovery Plan Performance Report of the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).

Compiled by the ASG’s American Rescue Plan Act Oversight Office, the annual report is provided to the U.S Treasury Department as required by federal law on spending by each state and territory of the millions of dollars awarded under the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

American Samoa’s report — publicly released yesterday morning on the ASG website (www.americansamoa.gov) — also as required by federal law — provides the annual update on the more than $479 million in ARPA funds awarded to the territory, as of June 30, 2023.

And the report reaffirms to the federal government, ASG’s plans to build a new 40-bed facility to be “located in the most populous area in the Territory. This facility will increase health care capacity significantly, decrease wait times for critical services, and provide expanded access to healthcare.

“One of the challenges in implementing this project was ensuring the design best met the needs of the people,” it says and noted that: “Initially, community engagement and input from healthcare leadership led to the decision to pursue the 40-bed facility.

“During this last year, after continued discussions, ASG designated a committee made up of healthcare professionals to determine if design changes were necessary,” it says.

“After the committee’s thorough review and feedback, ASG ultimately decided to continue with the planned facility,” according to the report, which made no mention that a committee had recommended to the governor to use the $20 million for further improvements to LBJ, which the governor rejected.

The report does note that from the American Samoa share of the SLFRF, the LBJ hospital was awarded $30 million. However, on March 2, this year, the government plans to build the new 40-bed hospital project was redirected to the Steering Construction and Management Committee headed by the Director of Department of Health.

The report states that as of 30 June 2023, $424,730 in expenditures has been recorded for the new hospital.

And the report provided a revised timeline for the new hospital. For example, the “Design Development Phase” is set for July 2023 to 27 November 2023. Construction phase, shows October 2024 to December 2026.

The Lemanu Administration had previously announced that the Honolulu-based firm, Architects Hawaii Ltd (AHL) has been awarded the design contract for the new hospital.

Meanwhile, the SLFRF report states that LBJ hospital requested consideration of an “addendum proposal” for reprogramming/ restructuring of its $100 million award.

Samoa News will report in future edition on the updated addendum made by LBJ.