GERALD FENECH

The substantial progress made in the construction of the Mater Dei hospital was clear proof of the government’s commitment to provide the best health services for the Maltese, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

Speaking after a two-hour tour of the new hospital, he said he was impressed with the workmanship and the state-of-the-art facilities that future patients will have access to.

Even though Malta has one of the best health systems in the world, the new hospital will be a huge jump in quality.

“The new hospital will provide an ideal base for the many health professionals who are at present working at St Luke’s Hospital,” Dr Gonzi said.

“Although many had doubted that the hospital will be completed, it is a dream that has become a reality,” he added.

Last year, the government signed a contract with Skanska Malta JV that set the date for completion at 1 July 2007, and capped expenses up to a maximum of Lm145.5 million.

Dr Gonzi said that penalties for any delays would total Lm5 million – however he was only interested in the hospital opening by that date.

The management of the Outpatients block has already been handed over to the Foundation for Medical Services, while an Italian company, INSO spa, has delivered Lm20 million worth of equipment out of a total of Lm62 million.

The hospital will also provide excellent facilities for medical students and the Prime Minister revealed that by March the first wards in Block D should be transferred to the FMS.

He said the contract for the catering services should be finalised by June 2006, while the tender for IT services closed some days ago. Although all the wards were furnished to the highest medical standards, the hospital’s environment would also provide an ideal platform for the 4,000 workers currently stationed at St Luke’s.

The hospital is based on a layout of a Maltese village and facilities include nurseries for the staff’s children, medical union offices, a staff and visitor’s restaurant, changing rooms and headquarters for security services. Meeting rooms, tutorial rooms, lecture halls, two auditoria and a library will help to make Mater Dei a centre of educational excellence, Dr Gonzi added.

The transition from St Luke’s will take place at the right time and in the shortest timeframe possible, the Prime Minister said.

In a few weeks’ time, staff from St Luke’s will be given the opportunity to become familiar with the new hospital’s layout and facilities.

The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Health Minister Louis Deguara, parliamentary secretaries Tonio Fenech and Helen D’Amato and by senior staff from the Foundation for Medical Services, was taken on a tour of four blocks, the operating theatres, wards, the main entrance and furniture in the Outpatients Department.

The furniture contract for the hospital is valued at E11.7 million and it has been awarded to the Italian company, Frezza SPA. 25 per cent of the contract value has been ordered and most of the Outpatients block is already fully furnished.

Facilities in Block C – the hospital’s main entrance – include a spacious reception area, a visitor’s cafeteria and restaurant with a serving area for 120 people.

There are 38 wards, including medical, surgery and speciality wards, in the main part of Block D.

Mater Dei’s CEO, Marion Rizzo, explained that a typical surgical ward has a total capacity of 24 beds, with a wing ward consisting of an acute area with six beds with visual access from the nurse station.

Each bed is equipped with a nurse-call panel that has oxygen suction points, up and down lighters, nurse call systems and an emergency pull button, she explained. Ward windows are double glazed while most of the beds can be operated using a handset.

The new hospital will have 25 state-of-the-art operating theatres. Each one will comprise a hold area, an anaesthetic room, the operating theatre, the preparation room, the dirty utility and the scrub room. Each theatre is equipped with the latest state of the art technology. Video cameras will also make it possible for surgical interventions to be followed in other parts of the hospital.

The Utilities Building System in Block F will provide a total electrical installed capacity of 31.5 MVA. The estimated load will be in the region of 18.5 MVA in summer going down to around 16 MVA in winter.

The block also houses three emergency diesel generators with a total generating capacity of 9 MVA, in the event of a power outage on the main feeder.