Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that on April 2, 2009 he asked the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education to set aside $1,000,000 for the purchase of critically needed surgical supplies and medical laboratory and blood bank equipment at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center. 

The House and Senate were able to agree to $700,000 and Faleomavaega’s request was included in the conference report of H.R. 3288, the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 which passed the House on December 8, 2009 and became Public Law 111-117 on December 16, 2009.

“I want to thank Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Tiahrt of the House Appropriations Subcommittee of Labor, HHS and Education and also Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Jerry Lewis of the full Committee on Appropriations for their support,” Faleomavaega said.

“As I noted in my request, the LBJ Tropical Medical Center is the only health care provider in American Samoa.  While it is a semi-autonomous agency of the American Samoa Government, LBJ is in a difficult position of upgrading its equipment and I am pleased that the federal government has been able to step in and, once more, set aside funding to address some of the immediate needs of our people.  In addition to this $700,000, I am appreciative that Congress was also able to support my request for our dialysis machines which were funded at $624,000 and for almost doubling our Medicaid funding that went into effect in 2006 as a result of the Congressional Delegates’ collective efforts to improve healthcare in our respective districts.”

“For any pending legislation that may take place regarding healthcare, we are also working together to make sure we get our fair share of federal dollars for the Territories we represent.  Again, I want to thank Congress for its continued support of LBJ and I thank LBJ for working closely with my office regarding this newest appropriation,” Faleomavaega concluded.