Health Ministry to spend another €1.7 million as Paola hospital remains closed

The Health Ministry has recently issued contracts worth €1.7 million, primarily in direct orders, to complete works on the Paola Hub hospital. This facility was supposed to open its doors in 2022.

Research conducted by The Shift reveals that in the past month, as the government engaged in a court battle with the original contractor of the hospital, the Health Ministry issued five separate contracts aimed at finishing it.

Most of the additional €1.7 million in new contracts were awarded through direct orders chosen by Health Ministry officials without competitive bidding. This time, the justification is described as “emergency works,” even though the mini-hospital for the south was meant to be operational in 2022.

During the first week of this year, under Minister Jo Etienne Abela’s guidance, the Health Ministry issued a €400,000 direct order to Electrofix Ltd for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing works, along with another €221,000 awarded to Xuereb Installations for finishing works.

Notably, Xuereb Installations is currently in court with Ergon Technoline Joint Venture, which was originally awarded the design and build contract for the hospital in 2017.

The original contract, which is now part of ongoing court litigation, was issued by the Health Ministry under Chris Fearne and Carmen Ciantar, a canvasser for the Minister who later became the CEO of the Foundation for Medical Services. Ciantar was dismissed last year.

Additional contracts expected to be signed in the coming weeks include the procurement of more equipment for the hospital, estimated to cost €727,000, as well as a costly risk assessment of the water systems in the new facility, which are suspected of harbouring legionella bacteria.

In May, just weeks before the last European Parliament elections, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Minister Jo Etienne Abela toured the Paola building, claiming it would be operational soon and giving the impression that the “hospital for the south” was ready for use.

The €40 million building remains closed, and no opening date has been announced.

In the meantime, a temporary mobile MRI machine was moved from Gozo to the Paola Hub, and patients were treated under a tent in the parking lot.

The health sector has suffered from mismanagement for the past decade, with little to no significant investment made. The government had promised new facilities through a multi-million euro deal with Vitals Global Healthcare / Steward Health Care – a project the court ruled was a fraudulent deal. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer money was spent with little to no result.

At present, Malta’s main general hospital, Mater Dei, is overwhelmed, and the Health Minister is engaged in an escalating conflict with the doctors’ union, further compounding the issue.