Updated 3.20pm
Plans to build a new outpatients block at Mater Dei Hospital have received definitive planning approval, five months after the Planning Authority first green-lit the plans.
The plan was initially approved by the PA last March, but that approval was conditional on a number of changes being implemented.
Following modifications, the PA granted approval to execute the permit on Tuesday. The permit was submitted by Mater Dei CEO Celia Falzon, with Marina Mania Eleni of the Foundation for Medical Services as the application architect.
No timeframes were provided concerning the project, although tenders to dig service tunnels have already been adjudicated and excavation works are expected to start in the coming weeks.
Foundation for Medical Services CEO Carmen Ciantar told Times of Malta that
The aim is to develop a state-of-the-art Outpatients Block and underlying car park which will result in the migration of outpatient services at Mater Dei Hospital to a separate, modern and much larger facility.
Recent years have seen a substantial increase in demand for services and FMS has ensured that the new Block will house the clinical services currently offered at the Outpatients Department while also integrating new ones, resulting in a wide array of services being offered under one roof. The end result of this €170M investment will be a more efficient and flexible provision of outpatient services.
We have started to clear the site for temporary car parking for the staff that the site to be used for the new block is currently being cleared, with a survey of existing engineering services that need to be rerouted around the site currently underway.
What are the plans?
According to the plans, which were first submitted in 2019, the block will rise five storeys high and include a 627-vehicle underground car park and bus terminus, covering an area of more than 16,000 square metres within the Mater Dei hospital complex.
The new outpatients' block will be built in a site between the main hospital building and the Life Sciences Park that is currently used as a staff car park. The site was originally intended as a helipad but has not been used for that purpose.
According to the permit application, “discussions are underway for the inclusion of a helipad in other projects envisaged for the MDH complex”.
A pedestrian walkway that includes a moving pavement will connect the building to the main Mater Dei entrance, with a staff-only pedestrian bridge also connecting the two buildings.
Growing outpatient requirements
Once constructed, the new block will ease overcrowding issues that plague Mater Dei’s current outpatients ward, which lacks the necessary space and consultation rooms to cope with Malta’s growing population. All outpatient units and services will be consolidated into this new block.
Authorities expect around 575,000 outpatients to be handled by the new facility every year by 2030, up from the 505,000 that required outpatient services in 2018. The number of medical, support and administrative staff will also rise by almost 400 by 2030.
"Recent years have seen a substantial increase in demand for services and FMS has ensured that the new block will house the clinical services currently offered at the Outpatients Department while also integrating new ones, resulting in a wide array of services being offered under one roof," Ciantar said.
"The end result of this €170 million investment will be a more efficient and flexible provision of outpatient services."
According to the permit conditions, a number of archaeologically valuable cart ruts present on the site must be adequately protected and preserved during works, which will be supervised by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
The building façade will be built using local unrendered and unpainted stone, with parts clad in limestone and others painted in a light ivory colour, with aluminium louvres and steel mesh also incorporated into the design.
The permit application indicates that the new block will be followed by the construction of a new 'mother and child' unit. Ciantar confirmed those plans, saying they would be fleshed out "at a later stage."