The CEO of LBJ hospital in American Samoa says sending patients to a hospital in the Philippines is cost effective and was made after proper review.
Last week Senate President Lolo M. Moliga wrote to Patricia Tindall asking for information about patients being sent to St. Luke Medical Center in Manila and the savings received by LBJ.
Of concern to Lolo and other senators is the distance that patients must travel to get medical attention.
Patricia Tindall says LBJ is preparing a report on the off-island medical referral program for the Senate, which has scheduled a hearing on the issue.
She says LBJ has three, third party agreements with providers, in Honolulu, Auckland, and Manila.
She says that on the whole, the cost of services in New Zealand is about 60 percent the cost of similar treatment in the United States and the Philippines can be as low as 10 percent of what they are for similar services in the US.
