The government has diverted €8 million from the Social Development Fund to Hospice Malta for the completion of the NGO's palliative care complex project. 

The first of its kind in Malta, the St Michael Hospice Complex will offer day therapy and an outpatients clinic, as well as 16 rooms to house patients who can no longer live at home but have not yet required hospital care. This will help them transition into full-time care while they remain surrounded by their loved ones. 

The Santa Venera building was signed over to Hospice by the Church in 2019. 

“Everyone knows the toll end of life care can have on people at the most difficult period in their lives, this project will seek to strengthen Hospice’s invaluable work in the field,” Prime Minister Robert Abela said. 

“While our healthcare is robust, this project will change the face of palliative care as we know it.” 

The Social Development Fund, which is funded through Malta’s passport buying scheme, was crucial in implementing this project, among other good causes the scheme has funded throughout its existence, he added. 

Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship Alex Muscat said that itswas the NSDF’s vision to contribute to projects of national importance that improve the lives of citizens for generations to come. 

Hospice chair Bernardette Bonnici Kind said the fund would make Hospice’s long- held dream a reality.

“I cannot thank you enough, not just as Hospice, but for every patient, present and future, whose lives will be touched by this project," she said.