Tender to be issued for 300-bed unit at St Vincent de Paul

Updated 1.10pm with PN reaction

A tender is to be issued for the construction of a new 300-bed intermediate care facility at St Vincent de Paul.

Announcing the tender for the new facility, set to be named the Sir Temi Zammit Hospital, Prime Minister Robert Abela said the unit would introduce an aspect of healthcare new to the country.

The new facility follows a 2024 pilot project to provide medical treatment to senior citizens at St Vincent de Paul, in a bid to ease pressures on Mater Dei Hospital.

Abela said that following the pilot project’s success, the government was embarking on a €1.3 billion project.

A statement announcing the tender did not specify the value of the tender being offered or provide a breakdown for the €1.3 billion figure.

The prime minister said the government was investing a total of around €1.7 billion a year in healthcare, “of which a third of a billion goes towards elderly care”, adding that last week saw the addition of a new MRI machine at St Vincent de Paul.

He noted that there were 20 agreements with the private sector for the purchase of hospital beds, with three state homes operated by the private sector.

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said the new facility would “serve as the bridge between home care and acute hospital care for the elderly”.

Parliamentary Secretary Agius Galea said intermediate care wards and specialised teams already in place at St Vincent de Paul would complement the new facility.

'Silly season' pledges

The Opposition Nationalist Party welcomed the announcement in a statement later Tuesday but questioned the government’s track record on previously announced health facilities.

Calling on the government to provide a timeline for the construction of the new 300-bed unit, the PN also asked when restructuring works at St Luke’s Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital would begin, and the facilities start receiving patients.

It also asked when work on the embellishments to Gozo General Hospital – announced in 2024 and set to include a new wing to treat acute cases – would begin and be completed, and when works to extend the emergency department at Mater Dei would start.  

The party also questioned, “When the new mental health hospital – about which we have heard so many differing versions – will begin and be completed”.

It would be “appropriate” for the government to clarify plans for mental health facility Mount Carmel Hospital, most of which it said had been “condemned”, and to ensure there was “serious investment” in primary health care by ensuring that every town has a clinic or health centre.

“Despite population growth, several clinics and health centres have been closed in recent years and remain shut, creating increasing pressure on other centres and on Mater Dei Hospital”, the party said.

It noted that while it was in government, the PN had “invested fully” in healthcare by building a new hospital and an oncology centre.

The public deserved a “serious government with a clear plan”, not one that had failed to deliver on its promises after almost 15 years in office and was now reviving “silly season” pledges close to an election, the party said.

“We hope that this Sir Temi Zammit Hospital, which the Government has suddenly and with a sense of urgency announced with the issuance of a development call, is not yet another such promise,” the statement read.

“People’s health is no joke.”

The statement was signed by shadow ministers Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Stephen Spiteri and Ian Vassallo.