James Sciriha has been appointed chief executive officer of CareMalta, replacing Natalie Briffa Farrugia, the previous CEO, who will be replacing Nazzareno Vassallo as Vassallo Group chairperson.
Sciriha will be supported by Noel Borg, who has served as the senior nursing manager for the past years and who has now been appointed chief operating officer.
As part of the company’s efforts to strengthen the company at board level, Vassallo Group director and shareholder Charlene Vella Vassallo has been appointed director of the company with a focus on business development.
Sciriha first joined the group in 2001 as a student worker while studying at university. In 2010, he rejoined the company as a group financial controller after working, specialising and gaining experience in funds and securitisation both locally and overseas with international audit firm Deloitte for three years. He was appointed director of finance at CareMalta on January 1, 2017. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Accountancy (Hons) degree from the University of Malta and a diploma in Fund Administration from the University of Manchester. He won a prestigious award by the Institute of Financial Services as overall excellent student in 2010 and the John Earland Prize Fund award 2010 supported by the Central Bank of Malta.
During his tenure at CareMalta Group, other than having a leading role in finance, Sciriha has been involved in a number of projects, namely the winning of Zammit Clapp tender; the extensions of Casa Arkati, Dar il-Madonna tal-Mellieħa, Żejtun Home and Zammit Clapp; the opening of Casa San Poalo and Casa Marija; the refurbishment of Villa Messina; HILA Homes projects; and the opening of LiveLife, the first private rehabilitation centre in Malta. He also served as a director of Hand in Hand Malta Ltd, a company offering therapeutical services for children with challenging behaviours, and led the CareMalta Group live-in, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualified as a nurse by profession and having worked in the cardiac intensive care unit at Mater Dei Hospital, Borg joined the CareMalta Group in October 2005 as a staff nurse and later was appointed deputy manager. In 2010, Noel took over as facility manager of Casa Arkati, Mosta, and later, in 2012, he was appointed nursing manager of Zammit Clapp Hospital Residential Home. After four-and-half years, he was promoted to senior nursing manager of CareMalta Ltd. He is also a non-executive director on the boards of HILA Homes Ltd and CareMalta Group Ltd. Borg holds a diploma in Health Science (Nursing), Bachelor of Science (Hons) Nursing, an international diploma in Human Resources and Personnel Management and a Master’s in bioethics. He also graduated at post-graduate level in patient safety and clinical risk management. Borg is also a member of the Military and Hospitalier Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem.
Vella Vassallo has been appointed director on the CareMalta Group board, focusing primarily on alternative care. A lawyer by profession, she obtained her Doctorate in Laws in 2012 and is certainly not new to the Vassallo Group, as she has been a director and shareholder since 2012. In 2018, she read for a Master’s of Laws in Human Rights of the Child from the University of London. Since 2020, she has served as director on the board of Diligex Ltd, where she represents the group while, at the same time, offering her expertise in legal matters. Vella Vassallo is a mother of four who firmly believes that through her journey of embracing motherhood and past missionary experiences, she has rekindled a strong desire, to give something back to society. As a newly appointed director on business development within the CareMalta Group, she aspires to put her human rights’ specialisation into practice, particularly through the new venture of alternative care.
While congratulating the three, group CEO Pio Vassallo said that these changes at the highest level of the company will help it retain its position as market leader in the care sector in Malta while venturing into new areas as well.
CareMalta Group provides quality services in nursing and residential care, independent living for older persons, as well as persons with disability, ALS and degenerative diseases and persons with mental health issues, through HILA Homes Ltd. The group today cares for over 1,600 residents and employs a workforce of over 1,300 highly dedicated and well-trained personnel.
CareMalta Ltd operates nine facilities across Malta – Casa Arkati (Mosta), Villa Messina (Rabat), Roseville (Attard), Żejtun Home, Cospicua Home, Dar il-Madonna tal-Mellieħa, Zammit Clapp Hospital Residential Home (St Julian’s) and Casa Marija (Sliema) and Casa San Paolo (Buġibba). HILA Homes Ltd operates Casa Apap Bologna (Mosta) and Casal Nuovo (Paola), and provides nursing and care services at Dar Bjorn (Qormi) run by the ALS Foundation.