Celia Falzon, the CEO of Mater Dei Hospital, has resigned from her role citing personal reasons, Times of Malta can confirm.

Sources close to the government said engineer Keith Attard will take her place and is being given a handover this week. 

It remains unclear what personal reasons led Falzon to step down from her post and efforts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.

Falzon was appointed CEO of the hospital in February 2020, just before COVID-19 hit Malta, taking over from Ivan Falzon, who now heads Infrastructure Malta.

She led the hospital through the tense and stressful period of the pandemic, when all eyes were on the health system, which many people feared could crumble under the unprecedented pressure and need for resources.

Falzon, who holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and is specialised in strategic planning, was CEO of the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme before becoming Mater Dei's CEO.

She has been involved in large public health sector projects since 2014 - namely the extension of the emergency department, cutting down the waiting lists at Mater Dei and introducing new technology at the hospital.

Her resignation follows that of top health official Carmen Ciantar, who was replaced as head of the Foundation for Medical Services earlier this year. 

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela, who has said he wants to totally overhaul Mater Dei to focus it on in-patient care, introduce an onsite psychiatric treatment unit and significantly expand its emergency department, has not commented about Ciantar or Falzon's resignation.