No decision on Steward concession deal before court ruling - Fearne

Government is refraining from taking any decision on the Steward hospitals concession agreement until the court delivers its judgment on the contract in January.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said government will wait for Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale's judgment, which is expected at the end of January. The court case to rescind the hospitals concession contract was instituted by Nationalist MP Adrian Delia and final submissions were made this week.

Asked on Thursday when the promised 'state of the art' hospital in Gozo will be built by Steward Healthcare - a contractual obligation - Fearne side-stepped the question, insisting that the Gozo General Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital will have their designated funding.

The government will be giving Steward Healthcare around €80 million in funds for next year, which the company will use to administer the two hospitals, pay staff and purchase equipment.

Three public hospitals, including the Gozo General Hospital, had been given to Vitals Global Healthcare on concession, however, the company failed to live up to its obligations and the concession was eventually transferred to American company Steward Healthcare.

Former Opposition leader Delia initiated court proceedings in 2018 to force the cancellation of the concession agreement and have the hospitals returned to the public on the basis that Vitals and their heirs, Steward, did not fulfil their contractual obligations.

Lawyers for Delia and the defendants delivered their final arguments on Tuesday with the fate of the agreement now resting in the hands of Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale.

Government has been in discussions with Steward to get the company to fulfill its obligations but decisions on the contract will be taken once the court rules on the matter, Fearne said.

The minister was addressing an hour-long press conference in which he gave a run-through of the budget measures concerning the health sector. He did not discuss the Streward Healthcare contract and ongoing controversy until reporters raised the issue.