Plan to relocate Karin Grech hospital takes shape with €16.5m tender
Health minister had said he wants to turn Guardamangia area into ‘health village’ after hospitals deal scandal
A €16.5 million tender to lease a building for a rehabilitation hospital has been issued by the government.
The tender is for the lease of a “self-contained building" to house a rehabilitation hospital for Karin Grech patients.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela last year announced plans to refurbish the Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and St Luke’s Hospital so they can be used to take pressure off Mater Dei Hospital.
Abela said he wants to turn the Guardamangia area, which houses both St Luke’s and Karin Grech hospitals, into a “health village” that can take some pressure off Mater Dei, which is struggling to keep up with demand.
The plans involved shifting staff and patients from Karin Grech hospital to an “interim site”.
Karin Grech staff members were told they will eventually move to a permanent location, with a likely site identified within the grounds of St Vincent De Paul home for the elderly.
The Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals were meant to benefit from a €200 million privately funded refurbishment as part of a 2014 healthcare contract awarded to Vitals Global Healthcare.
Former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff, Keith Schembri and former health minister Konrad Mizzi have since been charged with corruption over the hospitals’ contract.
Several other officials have also been implicated in the case.
All involved deny wrongdoing.
The contract was taken over by Steward Health Care in 2018. It has since been annulled by the court on fraud grounds.