NAO unsure over extending Vitals Global audit into new hospitals deal

Auditor General Charles Deguara says it is too early to determine whether an audit requested in 2016 into the Vitals deal will be extended to cover the latest developments

The Gozo hospital is one of three State hospitals transferred to Vitals as part of a 30-year concession
The Gozo hospital is one of three State hospitals transferred to Vitals as part of a 30-year concession

New owners will be taking over Gozo, St Luke’s and Karen Grech hospitals in January, leaving the National Audit Office unsure whether to probe the latest development.

The NAO had been tasked to audit the concession agreement between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare signed in March 2016, which saw the three State hospitals transferred to the private operator.

However, Auditor General Charles Deguara was unable to say whether the latest transfer of the concession, by Vitals to US-based Steward Healthcare, will also face scrutiny.

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“We will include the latest developments in our audit if we are asked to do so or if we deem it necessary but it is too early at this stage to make any such decision when the NAO has no details of the transfer,” Deguara told MaltaToday on Friday.

He said the audit of the original agreement with Vitals had not started yet and was in the queue. The NAO has a list of pending audits following various requests by MPs to probe public contracts, some that go back years.

“The NAO is currently working on a massive audit and the Vitals one is in the queue,” Deguara said without revealing anything.

One of the audits that had been requested was of the procurement process adopted when Mater Dei hospital was built more than a decade ago.

It has been practice for the NAO to tackle audits in chronological order as they come in.

Vitals was granted a 30-year lease agreement to redevelop and run the three State hospitals for medical tourism purposes. The agreement also stipulated how many beds the government would buy from the private operator for use in the public health service.

The audit of the hospitals agreement had been requested by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

On Wednesday night Vitals concluded a deal with Steward Healthcare for the transfer of the concession. No information on the sum paid for the concession by Steward has been made available with Health Minister Chris Fearne saying he was unaware of the amount.

Fearne insisted that the government’s interest was to ensure that all conditions of the original concession granted to Vitals would be respected by the new owners.

He said Vitals were within their right to sell as long as government approved the decision.

“We gave our consent because Steward Healthcare have a track record in the medical field,” Fearne said.