Adrian Delia ‘omitted key projects and investments’ when speaking about hospitals, Steward says
PN MP and former leader Adrian Delia has been accused of deliberately omitting “key projects and investments” made in the last years in the three hospitals which are currently run by Steward Health Care after the granting of a controversial concession.
In a press conference earlier this week, Delia presented a projects report which was presented by Steward as part of court proceedings which Delia has opened against the concession, with the former PN leader saying that the report was an example of how Steward had not followed their obligations and how their concession should be rescinded.
Steward themselves however have hit back at Delia, saying in a statement that the “report must be reviewed in its entirety and not on a selective basis.”
“Delia’s deliberate act of omitting key projects and investments made in the last years in the three hospitals does not do justice to the hard work of Steward’s team and its stakeholders,” the company said.
They said that the report was presented in court to demonstrate the significant amount of work and many millions invested by Steward to upgrade services, infrastructure and equipment at the hospitals.
Steward expressed its belief that “both the large, significant and more visible projects outlined below as well as the socalled “smaller” projects quoted by Dr Delia are equally important when running a hospital” and that the report does not even include other capital and day-today operational expenditure as part of Steward’s responsibility.
Steward gave a list of the projects which Delia did not mention in his press conference.
With regards to the Gozo General Hospital campus, Steward said that Delia had excluded the state-of-the-art Barts and the London School of Medicine (QMUL), complete with an ancillary Anatomy Centre, the refurbishment and upgrades of the Emergency department, Outpatients department including a new dental clinic, a new laboratory as well as a new Orthopaedic Ward, and technical and engineering upgrades such as the operating theatre automatic climatisation and new medical gases infrastructure, including the replacement of the main vacuum plant, medical air plant as well as the main oxygen plant which can now provide the hospital with an autonomous and continued supply of oxygen for a period of four to six weeks.
On Karin Grech Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital, Steward said that Delia had not mentioned the upgrade of the Physiotherapy Department, the overhaul of the Stroke Unit, a new Orthotics and Prosthetics Unit (OPU), and an investment in the hospitals’ transportation facilities via a new fleet of vehicles including an emergency response car, patient transportation coaches, as well as the introduction of a 24/7 air ambulance service between Malta and Gozo.
The company also said that a number of Covid-19 related investments had been made, amongst these being: the expansion of GGH’s capacity by an additional 120 beds, including the possibility to flex up to 25 COVID-19 ICU beds complete with ventilator setup, the number of ventilators in GGH increased to an unprecedented 25 units, thanks to Steward’s international supply chain, and a new additional 28-bed ward complete with negative pressure and the required air changes.
“These achievements prove Steward’s ongoing commitment to improve the quality of its services for the benefit of patients, staff and the communities it serves,” the company said.
PN responds
In response, the Nationalist Party said that the report Steward submitted is simply a “photographic report. They didn’t present any documentation to support this supposed investment. No receipts, no audits, nothing.”
“The report they presented and this declaration shows that, despite the fact that over a period of five years they received tens or hundreds of millions from the government, they failed to show where their investment is. It would be good for them to explain to the public where they have spent money.”
The PN said that the investment in the Barts medical school is the only millions of euros investment Steward made.
The PN challenged them to show that they “made the €190 million investment that they were committed to make from day one.” The PN also challenged them to publish the payments they received from the government to pay for infrastructural works, to show where the infrastructural works and works on the investment in 400 beds in St Luke’s hospital are.
The PN also challenged Steward Health Care to waive the €100 million payment agreement should the contract be cancelled due to their shortcomings. It also challenged the health care provider to publish the “agreement with Ram Tumuluri that saw him paid €5 million.”
The PN said that the company should provide an audited and detailed report, providing receipts and payments they made and received.