As election looms, plans announced for embellished Gozo hospital
The government has announced plans for an embellished Gozo General Hospital which will see the development of a new wing for acute cases.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Health and Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela launched what he described as a development and regeneration plan for the Gozo General Hospital.
“The main objective of this plan is for Gozo to have a modern and comprehensive medical infrastructure, to continue to provide a healthcare service of the highest level in Gozo itself,” Abela said.
He went on to explain that the new hospital will cover around 400 beds, which means that the number of patients that the Gozo hospital receives will be doubled.
He also announced that part of the regeneration plan will see the introduction of a new anatomy centre, a new research facility, a Child Development Assessment Unit centre, and a new helipad for emergency transport to Mater Dei Hospital.
“Thanks to this plan, we will not only be improving and offering a top-level health service, but we will also see several new quality jobs for people in Gozo. The government is constantly working to ensure that Gozo residents have all the necessary
health services on the island,” he concluded.
No more details were given, including any commencement date or a timeline.
The Gozo General Hospital was one of the three hospitals given to Vitals Global Healthcare in 2015 to manage and upgrade, along with St Luke’s
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Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital. However, very little investment was made, and the concession was handed to US company Steward Health Care in 2018.
In 2023, the courts declared the concession agreement as being riddled with fraud and returned the three hospitals to the government. Later that year, the concession’s annulment was confirmed by the appeals court, which found “collusion between Steward and senior government officials or its agencies”.
A recently concluded magisterial inquiry into the now-annulled 30-year, €4 billion deal will see Malta’s former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his
chief-of-staff Keith Schembri, ex-minister Konrad Mizzi and 19 other individuals and companies charged with money laundering, corruption, bribery and a host of serious crimes.
There is also a second group of 14 individuals and two companies that will be charged with secondary offences. That group includes former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne, Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna and top civil servants.