The Medical Association of Malta and the government are planning to bring their ongoing talks over the Vitals Global Healthcare concession to a conclusion in the first week of April, this newsroom has learnt.
Following up on the ongoing discussion between the two entities, MAM Secretary General Martin Balzan told The Malta Independent “our idea is to try and conclude in the week after Easter.”
MAM had declared an industrial dispute when VGH had announced that it would sell its 30-year concession to Steward, 21 months into operations. Balzan insisted that the government had breached the collective agreement, which was signed last May, after it was not informed or consulted six weeks prior to the sale.
MAM had argued that if the government broke its collective agreement this time, nothing would stop it from breaking future agreements such as its commitment not to privatise Mater Dei Hospital. A strike was held on 6 February.
At the beginning of March, Balzan told The Malta Independent that the finish line was ‘in sight’. “Last week I had said that we had a quite a few tough nuts to crack, well now we have cracked some of those nuts,” he said. Balzan had emphasised that MAM was not against privatization but wanted to ensure that patients and doctors were being safeguarded.
The Times of Malta had also reported Balzan explaining that the lawyers of the two parties were finalizing two documents, one of which was “strictly related to Vitals”, whilst the other was more “general”
‘Not much new’ with Steward’s new executive committee
Asked for his reaction to the new Steward’s executive committee, Balzan said that there is “not much new,” and said that most of the committee are “the same people who were employed by VGH.”
Last Saturday, Steward Health Care Malta announced the members of its executive team, led by Dr Nadine Delicata, who will be driving Steward's mission at Karin Grech Hospital, St Luke's Hospital, and Gozo General Hospital.
Delicata has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Gozo General Hospital since 2013 and will now serve as the Chief Operating Officer and Interim President of Steward Health Care Malta. John Bezzina will assist her as Human Resources Director, Micky Singh as Chief Information Officer, Alessandra Pace as Communications Director, Dr Stephen Zammit as CEO of Karin Grech Hospital, and Joseph Fenech who replaces Dr Delicata in the role of CEO at the Gozo General Hospital.