A Church-run care home in Naxxar is to close within five months, moving its 75 elderly residents to other homes but leaving some relatives worried about the impact on their mental health amid the pandemic.

The Holy Family Home is not able to “offer optimum quality of life” and so residents are being relocated to “better homes”, the Archdiocese of Malta said.

Some of the anxious relatives, who contacted Times of Malta, questioned the timing of the announcement, saying it came out of the blue in a meeting this week.

“We are very worried about the impact this change would have on the psychological well-being of residents,” a man, whose mother lives in the facility, said.

“After all they went through during the pandemic, this will be a tough one.”

Curia: Residents will be relocated to better homes

The building on Triq il-Markiż Scicluna is owned by the Jesuits but has been a home for the elderly since July 1972, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor until 1993 when it was taken over by Azzjoni Kattolika and, in 2015, by the Archdiocese.

“The Holy Family Home, in Naxxar will be returned to its owners next year and there are no plans for the Archdiocese to take it back,” the Curia’s administrative secretary, Michael Pace Ross, confirmed. 

After all they went through during the pandemic, this will be a tough one

“Despite the Archdiocese having invested heavily in the home over the past decades, it is not always possible for us to meet the required standards which offer optimum quality of life to our residents. 

“Therefore, thanks to the over-supply of beds in the sector, residents will be relocated to better homes at no cost for them and with the care and dignity they deserve,” he said, adding that the Church was refurbishing its homes and equipment for future social needs.

On Monday, relatives were summoned for a meeting during which Pace Ross informed them that the home would be closing down.

“Many people at the meeting voiced our surprise,” one relative of a resident said.

“We were never told anything about this lease agreement between the Archdiocese and the Jesuits when we signed the contract.”

He said his mother had only chosen the home because she had a friend there.

A spokesperson for the Jesuits in Malta said that the order had been informed that,  within a few months, the Archdiocese will no longer be operating a home for the elderly in the building.

“Therefore, the Jesuits will be looking into what would be the best way forward for the building’s use,” he said.