The government agreement with a private company for the running of the Good Samaritan healthcare facility that is treating scores of elderly COVID patients remains under wraps, as details are scant.
In October, the government announced the setting up of a specialised unit for the elderly in care homes who get infected with coronavirus and who do not require hospital treatment.
Times of Malta later revealed the unit was part of the Casa Serena Home, a former hotel that was converted into a care facility in recent years.
Weeks after the first patients were moved to the new unit, it remains unknown how much the government is paying Care First Limited, the company running Good Samaritan.
Care First operates St Thomas Hospital which also provides hospital beds for virus patients to the government.
Contacted about the agreement, a spokesperson for Care First said: “With regard to specific commercial details, the agreement itself precludes publication thereof.”
A government spokesperson had told Times of Malta when the unit first opened its doors that the cost of the beds varied depending on how many were used, though no other details were provided.
Questions on the matter have remained unanswered.
According to the Care First spokesperson, the Good Samaritan unit is a “newly-built wing, adjacent but separate [from Casa Serena]”. It can take up to 128 patients, with the hospital beds there supplied with “infrastructural piped oxygen and all amenities as requested by the relevant standards authority”.
“Care First Limited is contracted by the government to utilise this facility to isolate and provide medical care to COVID-positive patients with mild symptoms,” the spokesperson said.
“Generally, elderly patients who contract the disease require supportive treatment without necessarily requiring more acute treatment at Mater Dei Hospital.”
As of last Friday, at least six elderly homes were dealing with outbreaks, with some of the patients being cared for at the Good Samaritan.
Two of the COVID-19 victims who died between Monday and Tuesday were at the facility.