Parking at Mater Dei Hospital is to become free-of-charge for many of the hospitals’ patients as of next Friday, the Health Minister has announced.
Patients attending outpatients visits, radiology services and Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Hospital treatment will all be eligible for free parking, Jo Etienne Abela said.
Any such patients will have to show proof of their appointment, their ID card and parking ticket to hospital reception staff, who will then validate their parking ticket.
The initiative will begin on November 1.
Minister Abela said that around 55,000 patients use Mater Dei Services every month and the government does not want them to keep paying for parking.
“The state hospital is there for people,” he said. “This is why we’ve decided to introduce this measure as soon as possible.”
He said this is the first phase of this project and that the government is also looking into the possibility of extending the measure to relatives of hospital patients.
Abela’s predecessor as Health Minister, Chris Fearne, had also pledged free parking in Mater Dei in late 2019 when he was running to take over as Labour leader. However, Fearne lost that contest and the pledge was never implemented.
Who will get free parking at Mater Dei Hospital?
Parking at the state hospital will be free for patients receiving care from the following departments:
- Outpatients department
- Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre (SAMOC)
- Radiology department services: X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRI scans, nuclear imaging