27 April 2022, American Samoa. The Board of Directors of the LBJ Tropical Medical Center has unanimously selected a former member of its Board of Directors, as CEO for the next two years. Moefa’auo William T, Emmsley, Jr. was announced through an LBJ Board press statement, signed by Board Chairman, Dr Malouamaua Tuiolosega.
According to the press release, the search was done “by the book” – observing all Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulations and internal protocols.
“The process was carried out in the open, providing access for the public to participate through a widely published ad.”
The statement confirms there were nine applications received.
“One withdrew and one was disqualified for not following delivery protocols and instructions,” reads the statement.
“Of the seven that were screened, two failed to meet the minimum requirements as stipulated in the advertisement”. The LBJ Board, however, granted “courtesy interviews” to the pair, while the remaining 5 were “thoroughly evaluated through lengthy interviews”.
The Board Chair explains that the interview process narrowed down to 2 finalists, before Moefa’auo William T, Emmsley, Jr. who has been acting in the role for the past month, was unanimously selected.
The press release said the Board of Directors selected the best candidate that suits what it was searching for in terms of alignment with every aspect of LBJ’s operations.
“A candidate that the BOD believes will help elevate healthcare for our people to the next level of care, safety, and quality.”
Dr Malouamaua Tuiolosega said the selected candidate “is overwhelmingly qualified, supported by immense and superior experiences, excellent educational background, is a highly skilled administrator with splendid knowledge in government operations as well as refined abilities in technology and engineering matters, which turned out to be extremely favorable assets to the Board.”
The LBJ Board of Directors, in justifying the decision, said Moefaauo was the only candidate who delivered “evidence of competencies with professional achievements and accomplishments of his past work history.”
“Furthermore, the selected candidate was the only interviewee, who submitted a “2-year plan” for the Board’s review. Finally, the offeree is a proud US Veteran, with whom had been honorably discharged from the US Navy.”
LBJ’s former CEO Faumuina John Faumuina resigned last month, triggering the Board’s search for his replacement. The Board had first appointed Chief Financial Officer, Emau Amosa, as Acting CEO however, within two weeks, Board Member Moefaauo was appointed Interim CEO, while the vacancy was advertised. Moefaauo would later resign from the Board before applications closed on the 8th of April.
Moefaauo has previously held CEO positions within the American Samoa Government. He was formerly the CEO of the Shipyard Services Authority, and had also headed the Trades Department at the American Samoa Community Colleges well as the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority. and also stepped down after a year under unclear circumstances.
He was also head of the Trades Department at the American Samoa Community College and was a special assistant to the Director of Commerce.
Moefaauo lived in Honolulu for many years where he was director of a non profit group Samoa Providers Association.
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