The government has defeated Steward Healthcare for a second time in an international arbitration process over the terminated hospitals deal, Chris Fearne told parliament on Wednesday.
The arbitration court ruled in favour of the government in a 'procedural' disagreement with Steward, the health minister said.
"I cannot say what it was about because I'm bound by confidentiality," he told MPs.
"It was an issue of procedure that the government and Steward were not agreeing on. But the point is that so far in this process, the arbitration court took two decisions, and in both cases it ruled in favour of the government."
Argument over €100m cancellation fee
Steward and the government are battling the hospitals deal issue in an arbitration court in Paris called the International Chamber of Commerce.
The proceedings came after a court annulled all contracts awarded to Steward and its concession predecessors Vital Global Healthcare to run Karin Grech, St Luke's and Gozo General Hospital.
Last month an appeals court confirmed the landmark judgment earlier in the year to cancel contracts related to the deal, on the basis that Steward had not fulfilled its contractual obligations.
Steward wants the €100 million cancellation fee it obtained through a side letter engineered by then-minister Konrad Mizzi.
The government is refusing to pay up and is demanding monetary compensation for the contractual obligations Steward failed to deliver during the period it ran the hospitals.
"We're going after whatever we believe is ours by right," Fearne said on Wednesday. "And we will chase it till the very last cent."
A team of local and international lawyers led by the state advocate are working on the case, he said.
Second defeat for Steward
The government first 'defeated' Steward in the arbitration court in April, when an emergency arbitrator ordered the international healthcare giant to bear the government's costs during the dispute.
Again, very little information was divulged back then on the disagreement and the decision.
On Wednesday Fearne also said that contrary to what the opposition often says, government investment in the hospitals is well underway.
A new clinic will open in Victoria, Gozo, within two weeks, and shortly afterwards a community centre offering various medical services will be inaugurated in Qala.
The Gozo hospital will soon see the installation of a new MRI scanner and a new CT scanner is in the pipeline, he said.
'Not enough' - PN
During the parliamentary debate that was discussing next year's health budget estimates, PN MPs insisted the government was not doing enough to address the country's health issues.
Capital investment was down, medicines were going out of stock, Mater Dei was struggling to keep up with demand and not enough money was earmarked for mental health, obesity and other pressing issues, they said.
PN's health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri called for better infrastructure. He said people were being exasperated by having to wait for weeks and months for outpatient appointments and surgeries.
Malta, he said, needed more operating theatres and the government should also consider public-private partnerships with private hospitals.
He also insisted medicines on the government formulary needed to be of good quality. It was unacceptable that patients and their families could immediately detect differences between brands, particularly to treat depression, anxiety, and behavioural problems.
He also insisted chemotherapy needed to be provided by the government and cancer patients should not be made to beg the Community Chest Fund for it.
He said Mater Dei Hospital was overloaded and he looked forward to the opening of the new health hub in Paola, which would hopefully ease the load. However more hospitals were needed, not least in Gozo, where Steward had not delivered the promised new hospital, he said.