Like a house of cards, the Tupua Tamasese Meaole (TTM) National Hospital is slowly falling apart. The latest development in a series of things is the stench from the sewer at the hospital forcing the closure of the laboratory.

This in no way sounds or rather smells good. The patients and the staff feel the full brunt of it. This is not healthy. This requires urgent steps from the administration. God forbid, the sewer pipes or the tank burst during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The state of national hospitals is often reflective of the nation’s state. For how long has the government known that the TTM Hospital was deteriorating? It does not make sense that despite reports on the state of the hospital, nothing concrete has been done.

Pardon the pun, but band-aid solutions do not work when it comes to infrastructure. For example, when a pothole appears on the road, contractors patch it up, then another appears, and there is another patch-up. Patch-up after patch-up makes that section of the road as worse as having potholes.

Samoa needs a new hospital. A hospital that has everything according to the highest standards. From the foundation, the concrete, the steel, the wiring, the ventilation, rooms, beds and even the benches for patients waiting in the outpatient department.

Understandably, the government’s policy of cutting the national debt level is not to take on any more loans or indulge in major investments. The case of the hospital is different. The TTM Hospital is a necessity.

The government needs to bite the bullet on this and invest in a new hospital. The people of this country deserve better healthcare. There may be a shortfall in human resources such as key specialist positions but a good hospital with a conducive working environment will attract good people.

Another reason why medical professionals are leaving is because of the working environment. To remove the stench, the floor of Acute 8 has to be removed. That is what Aiono Dr Alec Ekeroma has said.

Earlier this year, results of research conducted by Victoria University of New Zealand regarding the Tupua Tamasese Meaole (TTM) National Hospital said the condition of the hospital is deteriorating and poses significant health risks to the public.

The research evaluates buildings' environmental impacts by examining their life cycles and associated environmental consequences.

It highlighted sewage leakages within the TTM hospital as a major public health threat, noting that hospitals should be places of healing, not sources of additional health risks.

Constructed by a Chinese company with a $75 million loan from China, the hospital opened in July 2011. However, it soon exhibited various issues, including flooring and tiling defects and leaks in the cooling system.

"Contaminated streams and sewage leaking into fresh water are also common problems observed in visited health facilities," the report states.

If the government is saying this is a problem they inherited from the previous administration, then it is a very poor excuse. Most of them were part of the former administration. There has to be routine maintenance of important infrastructure and health is a very important infrastructure for any country. The nation cannot sit and wait on aid money for this.

The longer we wait, the worse the state of the hospitals becomes. Hospitals need to be clean and sanitary. It should be the last place patients get infections because it is where people come to get treatment for their ailing conditions.

Maintaining a hospital goes far beyond the realm of cleanliness and repairs—it plays a critical role in ensuring the safety, efficiency, and well-being of patients, healthcare professionals, and the entire healthcare ecosystem.

Why is that we are not addressing the elephant in the room? Everyone knows about the condition of the hospital. The government knows that a new one is needed. It is time to stop waiting for a donor partner to bring in aid money. It is time to invest in a new one.

It was easy to fork out $40 million over two years for CHOGM, how about the same for a new hospital? Maybe a chance to re-look at the $255 million being used for district grants, a little for a new hospital will not be such a bad thing.

Have a great weekend.