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Pago Pago – American Samoa
On June 30, 2024, the doors of the Yilili hemodialysis pharmacy of the “Hope Dialysis Center” (HDC) were closed. But in a Senate Health Committee review held last Thursday, Director Lyndon Johnson said that their hospital has a plan to reuse the Yilili pharmacy in order to bring this service to families and households. , Reduce the burden on the masses.
He spoke to Dr. Akapusi Ledua who in his email to His Excellency Larry Sanitoa stated that Lyndon Johnson intended to utilize Dialysis of Hope and establish more hemodialysis units in the western and eastern parts of the country as their satellite dialysis units.
The program involves filling prescriptions at home and could benefit 20% of patients who are undergoing blood purification.
Reply from Dr. Ledua to Sanitoa, when the Honourable Member contacted Director LBJ, due to the concerns of some patients who are currently using HDC, LBJ may not be able to cater to their needs when HDC closes as stated in a Samoa News report published on July 1, 2024.
However, a recent report indicated that the hospital has signed a temporary agreement (MOU) with Renasolve, Inc. to continue to provide blood purification services in the community. This is the first time that the service has been implemented in American Samoa.
The company, which belongs to Renasolve, Inc., a U.S. company specializing in blood purification services, will start services at LBJ Hospital and then deliver them to rural areas as quickly as possible.
On Wednesday, Lyndon Johnson announced the purchase of ten (10) blood purifiers to meet the needs of the many patients in the country who require this service.
During last week’s hearing before the Senate and the Lyndon Johnson administration, Dr. Ledua stated that 42 patients at HDC are currently continuing to receive prescription treatment at the LBJ Dialysis Unit and that the hospital is currently trying to establish a dialysis prescription center as their location is referred to as a “satellite facility.”
However, a partner at HDC told Samoa News in an email that they have not been contacted on the matter.
Samoa News was unable to confirm all HDC partners, but a lawsuit filed against HDC in 2022 named HDC board members John Wasko and Jean Letarte, with Chris Fisher serving as a director and president of HDC’s board of directors and owning 50% of HDC’s shares. It also named the American Samoa Venture Fund as one of its partners.
With beam
HDC, or “Hope Dialysis Center,” was founded by Mr. Chris Fisher, the chairman of the board, in 2018. However, in 2022, a dispute arose among HDC board members, and the board took Fisher to court when Fisher announced the closure of HDC because without funding from Medicaid, they could no longer continue to provide services.
At a public hearing in April 2022, Fisher said the only way to keep HDC open was to pass legislation to continue receiving Medicaid reimbursement after April 16.
Another way is for the American Samoa government to buy the HDC and use it as another dialysis center for Falelima i West patients. This would allow the staff to continue working and continue prescribing. But the decision is left to the government. Fisher also said they are ready to work with the government to help dialysis patients.
But according to a report in Samoa News in May 2022, on April 28, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued a legal order (temporary restraining order) against Chris Fisher and ordered an assessment to prevent the HDC director.
According to the plaintiffs, this TRO prevented the closure of HDC announced by Fisher and provided HDC with an opportunity to pay its bills, allowing it to continue dialysis services.
The plaintiffs include John Wasko and Jean Letarte, representing HDC, against Fisher. The plaintiffs’ attorney is Thomas B. Jones of Jones & Associates, LLC., while the Honorable Togiola TA Tulaguno is Fisher’s attorney.
John Wasko, who was listed as HDC’s vice president when the company was incorporated in American Samoa on Oct. 16, 2018, was also named in a letter from Fisher that was forwarded to TBAS on March 20, 2020, as a partner. He owns 10% of HDC, while Dr. Letarte owns 7%.
Fisher also mentioned in the same letter that he has a 50% ownership in HDC. Other partners in the company include ASVF (American Samoa Venture Fund), which funded HDC’s start-up with $300,000 in cash.
The ASVF is funded by the SSBCI (State Small Business Credit Initiative) administered by the Government of American Samoa.
In April 2022, at the request of the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Attorney General’s Office took HDC to court based on the interim Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between HDC and ASVF because the DOC had stopped According to Mr. Fain’ulelei Falefatu Alailima-Utu, the then Attorney General, HDC had violated the terms of the MOU.
In the government’s claim against HDC, HDC is required to immediately return $300,000 in funds received from the American Samoa Government (ASVF) so that the DOC director (or anyone he chooses) can become a member of the organization. The financial statements provided by the HDC board of directors and government departments were prepared by licensed accountants working in the United States from 2018 to the present.
According to research by Samoa News, there have been no recent reports of the government making claims against HDC, nor any information on a TRO being filed against Fisher.
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