Updated July 19 with MAM comments
Mater Dei Hospital has opened a new ward that can accommodate an additional 40 patients, the health ministry said on Thursday.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said that some €1.4 million was spent to convert the space into ward M10, with an additional €140,000 spent on medical equipment to service the ward.
Abela said significant work needed to be carried out on the space because it was not a clinical setting. The work included building new walls, and treatment rooms as well as new toilets and showers for patients.
Photo: DOIChanges were also made in the electrical system as well as mechanical systems such as ventilation, air conditioning, water and electricity.
Additional systems like nurse call, pneumatic tubes and medical gasses also had to be installed.
The minister said that the back part of this ward is intended to be used as a medical high-dependency unit, where professionals will be able to treat patients with severe illnesses.
MAM: 'New' ward claims are misleading
Doctors, however, said the ministry’s claims about M10 being a “new” ward were misleading.
The ward previously served as a staff canteen and had first been used to host patients during the COVID pandemic, the Medical Association of Malta said.
It had now undergone a refurbishment and upgrade but still “does not offer the same level of privacy and toilet facilities as the original Mater Dei wards,” MAM said.