Gozo General Hospital's emergency and outpatients departments have been upgraded and refurbished, Steward Health Care said on Friday. 

Facilities, equipment and consultation rooms have all been upgraded and the number of clinics has also been increased, allowing for additional services to be provided and improving waiting times, the hospital operator said. 

Hospital outpatient services, which were offered from the nearby Barts Medical School campus while refurbishing was under way, will now once again be offered from the hospital itself, Steward Health Care Malta executive director and president Nadine Delicata said. 

The refurbishing work complements other upgrades which the hospital operator has announced in recent months. 

In October, Steward had announced an upgrade to medical gases infrastructure at Gozo hospital, setting up a 20,000-litre oxygen reservoir to ensure the facility has a four-to-six week continuous supply of oxygen. 

Earlier in 2020, Steward Malta expanded the Gozo General Hospital’s capacity by 120 beds for COVID-19, including the possibility to flex up to 25 COVID-19 ICU beds. 

It also increased the number of ventilators by 25 units.

Earlier this month, Steward dismissed claims that it was leaving Gozo, saying these were "purely speculative".