The Nationalist Party’s Parliamentary motion asking government to do all it can to cancel the Steward Healthcare agreement did not pass, as PL MPs voted to instead amend the motion.

The PN’s motion asked Parliament to condemn the agreement which saw three of Malta’s hospitals being run by a private company, as well as the Restatement agreement signed in 2019, arguing that they are against the national interest. It also called on Parliament to “condemn the action against the national interest by Konrad Mizzi and others” who were participants in the agreement. Lastly, it asked Parliament to call on the government to take all the necessary steps to cancel or annul the agreement which saw the hospitals transferred to the private operator, as well as the Restatement agreement.

The agreement regarding the hospitals was originally signed with Vitals Global Healthcare, and later passed on to Steward Healthcare. The concession is mainly for the private entity to manage the three hospitals - Karin Grech Hospital, St Luke’s Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital.

During the debate, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis filed amendments to the motion. The amendments argue that this motion came at an insensitive time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among other things, it argued that Parliament making pronouncements could prejudice the administration of justice given the court case on the matter, and that the institutions must be left to do their job without pressure. The amendments read that the government must take any necessary decisions in the interest of the Maltese people.

During the debate, both Prime Minister Robert Abela, and Opposition Leader Adrian Delia spoke.

The Prime Minister highlighted that the Opposition was arguing that the government tied itself to paying €100 million to Steward Healthcare if it cancelled the contract for any reason whatsoever. This, he said, was not the government’s interpretation.

“But today, the Opposition is Steward Healthcare’s best advocate. When we continue talks with Steward Healthcare next week, be sure that they will say that the Opposition agrees with them.”

He said that if the government opts to head in the direction of cancelling the contract, which he said is one of three directions government can take, the first thing Steward Healthcare will say is that the Opposition agrees with them that the government would need to pay €100 million.

He said that the government sought legal advice, and if the government opts to move in the direction to cancel the agreement, and it is the private entity’s fault, the government doesn’t need to pay €100 million.

The Prime Minister argued that the Opposition takes every opportunity to attack the country, even during a time when the people are united in the fight to control Covid-19.

Abela claimed that the Opposition is attacking a contract it hasn’t seen, referring to the Restatement agreement.

The three options that the government has before it, he said, are to continue with the agreement as is, revise it, or cancel the contract altogether. The main principle that will not change, he said, is value for money, which “will guide us in the discussions.”

He said that if it weren’t for Covid-19, the decision regarding Steward Healthcare would already have been taken, but said that this was not the moment to cause problems for the health system in the country.

He highlighted that Delia filed a court case on the hospitals situation, and asked how he can come before Parliament on the issue when the courts are deciding it. “Is this the rule of law you believe in?”

Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said that if the Prime Minister believes the €100 million contract should be revoked, then he should join him in the court case and they could fight to take the hospitals back together.

Delia said that in the original contract, there were special emergency clauses where, in a public health emergency, the government had a right to take the hospitals back from VGH and use them for the Maltese people, “but cannot do so today, as Konrad Mizzi changed those clauses.”

Delia quoted a number of clauses from the original contract, and said that if the Prime Minister thinks that while a PL minister signed the contract regarding the €100 million issue, that the people will believe it is the opposition’s fault, then the Prime Minister is wrong.

Delia then turned to the original contract that was signed with Vitals Global Healthcare. He said that the government did not appoint experts or doctors to see who to give the contract too, but chose Nexia BT. VGH had no experience in managing health clinics or hospitals, he said. “No medical experience.”

He said that the government paid millions to VGH, but they did nothing. “This is the contract the Prime Minister came to defend. They did nothing with the hospitals, and went into debt.”

He said that Steward Healthcare were not doing well either. “Prime Minister Robert Abela then decided a new contract had to be signed. He was not the PM in 2019, but was the lawyer in the Office of the PM.”

The original contract had read that if “the concessionaire fails, we would have been able to step in, take the hospitals, and they would remain responsible for the debt. That is what the contract read. The government took this contract, and threw it away. Instead they told them that they knew they failed in 2019, and that the government paid millions for nothing in return, but if in court the contracts get cancelled, we would give them €100 million. That is what you did to us, that is what you signed!” Delia said.

 

Earlier in the debate, PN MP Stephen Spiteri, who is the party's spokesperson for Health, said:"In August 2019, Konrad Mizzi signed a restatement agreement with a private operator of the three hospitals." He said that this statement was signed behind the back of Parliament and the people, and tied the government "to an illegal and immoral obligation not in the public interest." He said that BOV signed the agreement as a guarantor tying any government from that day forward to pay the private operator the sum of €100 million to take back these hospitals, no matter what the reason is, "even if court declares the original 2015 agreement null."

Spiteri noted the court case opened by Opposition Leader Adrian Delia, noting that conditions and obligations were breached by the private operator. He said that the government should not have its hand tied with any scandalous contract which goes against the national interest.

Spiteri said that Vitals Global Healthcare did not meet any of its milestones that it was meant to, and said that they disappeared from the scene. "It is not correct that public funds are used like that."

He mentioned that there was a premeditated contract with VGH, and that it had no medical knowledge to begin with, and also highlighted the financial issues the company had. "Here we had a company which, I could almost say, was intentionally set to fail."

He said that people's funds should not be stolen, and should be better spent.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne said that the health service in Gozo is just as good as in Malta. He said that if the health services would be failing, he would understand having this discussion, "but this discussion is taking a place when the health services are coming out with honours."

He said this story began in 2013, when Godfrey Farrugia was Health Minister, when he, together with Minister Evarist Bartolo went to London and spoke to Barts Medical School. Through that intervention, and more work there, Barts came to the country, he said. Godfrey Farrugia at this point said that the minister was trying to mislead Parliament. Fearne then said that through an agreement with the government, Barts wanted to open a school in Gozo, "and we wanted the Gozo hospital to be a teaching hospital." He said that the government then came up with the idea to have a nursing school in St Luke's Hospital, and wanted a teaching hospital there as well.

After there was the Barts development, VGH came into it and then later Steward Healthcare. "Steward Healthcare is the largest American company that provides healthcare in the USA and runs 35 hospitals."It provides medical services to 12 million patients a year."  He said that they have a system that works. He described Steward Healthcare as a serious company.

Fearne spoke of the Covid-19 pandemic and thanked all the health workers for their hard work.

Steward Healthcare in Malta, since arriving in the country, "began doing what we expected of them. We told them to first build the Barts Medical Hospital, and in a year and a half, it is there," he said, describing it as "state of the art." Now, he said, Steward Healthcare submitted designs for the Gozo General Hospital and St Luke's Hospital to the Planning Authority. He said that Steward Healthcare brought ventilators to the country, and said that they increased the number of Covid-19 patient beds in Karin Grech and at the Gozo Hospital. He said that they were asked to create a separate ITU for Covid-19 patients, which they did. He also said that they brought in two new air ambulances without even being asked to. He said that they have worked.

He said the PN is arguing that the country is not getting its value for money. He pointed out the NAO report regarding Mater Dei Hospital released a couple of days ago, €74 million, then €98, and then cost €583 million. PN MP Chris Said argued that this was when it was going to be built only as a research hospital.

Fearne spoke about calculating the funds paying Steward for the 30 year concession, and the amount it would cost the government to run the hospital services. "So if Steward Healthcare wasn't there, wouldn't we pay the salaries for doctors and nurses, pharmacists and other workers?"  He spoke about the x-rays and CT scans costing money, the air ambulance service, the medicines at their hospitals, "wouldn't we have to pay for them if Steward wasn't there?"

He said that the contract with Steward Healthcare is signed, "and we expect that they give us what is agreed in the contract, no more and no less. If you truly care for the good of the Gozitan patients, then be with us. Be with us in what was signed so that we take what was signed in the contract."

He said that PN Leader Adrian Delia filed a court case on the hospital issue, but did not wait for it to pass his own judgement. "This is the moment where the strength of the people comes before the strength of politics."