Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi defended the deal struck with Vitals Global Healthcare when he was in charge of the health sector, arguing that what was not good for the country at the time was having the Gozo General Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital in a state of disrepair.
The controversial VGH deal is again under the microscope. Vitals Global Healthcare had signed a deal with government to run two hospitals in Malta, and the Gozo General Hospital. It later pulled out of the concession and sold it to Stewards Healthcare. Recently, questions were raised as to what Vitals Global Healthcare had done with the millions government paid to the company. The company was also meant to invest around €200 million in St Luke's Hospital, Karin Grech Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital.
When asked by The Malta Independent how he defends signing such a deal with Vitals Global Healthcare back when he was still Health Minister, he replied by saying that the two of the hospitals were in a state of disrepair.
He highlighted that the government had decided to invest in Mater Dei hospital, in community healthcare and in other hospitals and that such finances came from the aid of private investment. He highlighted that Steward Healthcare's (the company who took over the concession from VGH) priority will be to work on the Medical School and the anatomy centre, and by mid-year Bart's Medical School should be completed. He highlighted that the agreement was a consession, which is based on the delivery of healthcare services.
He then went on to talk about the situation involving Technoline. Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne told Lovin Malta that plans were underway to scrap a controversial deal which granted local medical supplier Technoline exclusive procurement rights for the St Luke's, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals, which were sold to VGH and are today operated by Steward Healthcare. The Deputy Prime Minister said he did not believe in a model of procurement that grants exclusivity to a single company. He said Steward was working to reverse the Technoline contract.
He repeats that the Government has one contract; that which is with the Government, the Ministry of Health. "What happens between the concessionaire and private subcontractors is not within the government's control. Mizzi concludes that both he and the Government would prefer if Steward opened its procurement system to the market, and have more than one supplier and agency, and hopes that Stewart would take the governments recommendation.
When pressed by other sections of the media as to whether he was involved in the Technoline deal, he said: "of course not, as this is a choice by the Operator"and he highlighted that there was no contract between the Government and Technoline. He said that he agrees with Health Minister Chris Fearne, and that the Government's preference would be that Steward works on a procurement model.
When questioned regarding exclusiveness of Technoline, he replied that right now the Government is making sure that Steward Healthcare works towards taking on the recommendations to become an open procurement market.