Five years after it was supposed to open its doors, the Paola Health Hub remains in limbo, with Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela still unable to say when it will finally start serving patients.
"I cannot give you a deadline, but what I can guarantee is that the government aims to open the hospital as soon as possible," Abela said on Tuesday.
The Vincent Moran Health Centre, which is intended to serve around 130,000 people in Malta's south, was originally meant to welcome patients in 2020.
The deadline was pushed back a year after a tender process - initially awarding the project's construction to a consortium named SP BB International JV - was found to have been tainted.
The project was eventually awarded to a consortium called Ergon-Technoline.
However, the government later cancelled its contract with Ergon-Technoline after the consortium failed to provide a series of compliance certificates necessary for the centre's operation, including certificates for lifts, electrical and plumbing works, and health and safety, among others.
Following a court battle, the government took over the hospital in October.
When asked for an update on Tuesday afternoon, Abela said that for the past four months, the government has been drafting contracts with the subcontractors who are already working at the health hub.
"We also want to guarantee that the subcontractors working with us are paid and are not targeted by legal problems the original contractor might initiate," Abela said.
Those subcontractors are now beginning to work on the hospital, he added.
"If you think these months have been wasted, that is not the case," he said.
The health minister acknowledged public frustration over the ongoing delays.
However, Abela stressed that for the hospital to open, all necessary certifications must be in place, particularly those related to health and safety.
"I will not open the hospital without the certification. This is a hospital, and we must treat it as such."
"No one is as frustrated as I am, but that does not mean paying many millions to a contractor who was not meeting deadlines."