Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — LBJ Hospital Chief of Engineering and Facilities — Veronica Vaouli-Gasio —is committed to using her knowledge and expertise to ensure that LBJ facilities meet the highest standards of patient safety, efficiency, and innovation.  And she is a product of the American Samoa’s education system.

As an accomplished Electrical Engineer with over 15 years of industry expertise and management experience as well, Vaouli-Gasio is the daughter HC Taua’a Sam Vaouli and Joyce Vaouli of Alofau.

After graduating with honors from Fagaitua High school, Veronica went on to receive her Associate of Arts and Associate of Science in Liberal Arts from Riverside Community College, as well as her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electrician Certification, and Biomedical Technology Certification from the Southern California Institute of Technology. 

Veronica’s portfolio consists of a wide array of skills and abilities such as managing a million-dollar store while employed with Lady Foot Locker Inc., to designing motor controls for water pump stations and electrical schematics as an Electrical Engineer at the American Samoa Power Authority. 

In May of 2020, Veronica was offered a position with the LBJ Tropical Medical Center as the Biomedical Manager, but did not start her role until she returned on the second repatriation flight in March of 2021.

By May of 2022, she was appointed by her predecessor, the late I’iga Peseta Sa Mavaega, as the Acting Chief Engineer of Plant Services, and under his guidance, she worked tirelessly with the Engineering and Facilities team to complete projects he had in the works before his untimely death in September of last year. 

Veronica also conveyed how deeply honored and humbled she is to have been appointed as the Chief of Engineering and Facilities, and how fully committed she will be in utilizing her knowledge and expertise to ensure that the facilities meet the highest standards of patient safety, efficiency, and innovation. 

During her time as Acting Chief Engineer, the Department completed projects, such as the installation of a new Rotoclave machine, a critical piece of equipment used for the sterilization of medical waste for proper disposal. Under her leadership, the maintenance division became very instrumental in making the necessary repairs and upgrades in patient care areas throughout the facility. This initiative has been dubbed as the “Facelift project”.

To date, Veronica’s team has done minor renovations, such as new paint, replacing baseboards and ceiling tiles, new floor tiles in 12 patient rooms in the Medical, Surgical, and Maternity Wards. Furthermore, she led her team in initializing new grant applications through the Department of Interior, Office of Disaster Assitance and Petroleum Management, and the Department of Homeland Security funding opportunities as well as reprogramming existing grant funding towards much needed improvement projects throughout the facility. 

 “A huge thanks and appreciation to the LBJ Board of Directors, CEO, Senior Leadership, fellow colleagues, Engineering and Facilities Department, and most importantly my family for their unwavering support in my abilities to get the job done,” said Mrs. Vaouli-Gasio in an official LBJ statement released to Samoa News. 

Other completed projects under Veronica’s leadership to date are the new restroom in the Emergency Room, restroom renovation in the Surgical Ward, COVID-19 Retrofit Project, which included the retrofitting of the Pediatric Ward, COVID Ward, and COVID Operating Room, along with the installation of two new autoclaves in the Central Supply Department.

 “This is just a small list of projects with more in the pipeline throughout the rest of this year, and years to come. My top priority will be to support the Medical staff in providing quality healthcare services and facilities for the people of American Samoa,” she said.