The ministry's director general of health, Leausa Take Naseri, told the inquiry the merger was in the best interests of public healthcare in Samoa.
Questions were raised as to whether the organisations could work together to improve healthcare.
Leausa said the relationship and communication between the two bodies had not been good for a decade.
He said that as a result the Nurses Association president and an overseas medical expert had petitioned the government to merge the institutions.
