Paola health centre plagued by delays, controversy and alleged corruption finally opened to patients

The Ċensu Moran Health Centre, which has been mired in controversy and delay, started receiving its first patients on Monday.

The Minister for Health Jo Etienne Abela, visited the centre where he met with the first patients receiving the provided services.

Under the direction of the Ministry for Health, the Foundation for Medical Services has worked to ensure that, as of Monday, speech and language pathology and gynaecology services are being offered at the Censu Moran Centre, the government said.

Over the course of this month, eight more disciplines will be introduced, including physiotherapy, orthopaedics, manometry, podiatry, gastroenterology, and respiratory medicine. The portable MRI scanner service, which has already served over 1,000 patients, will continue to be available.

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela meets with staff at the health centre

"Today marks an important step forward for healthcare in our country, as we begin to see our promises translate into results for the benefit of patients. Just today, fifty individuals received outpatient treatment at this new centre. Gradually, over the coming two months, more services will be introduced so that the Censu Moran Centre can fulfil its intended purpose. In the coming weeks, two operating rooms for endoscopies and other interventions will also begin functioning,” Abela said on Monday.

Delays, disruptions and controversy

The opening of the Censu Moran Health Centre follows years of delays and public scrutiny. Originally announced in 2016 as part of a broader effort to decentralise healthcare services and modernise primary care across Malta, the project faced repeated setbacks.

Construction was hindered by issues related to tendering, changes in project scope, and questions over contractor performance, which contributed to a prolonged timeline and cost overruns.

The project also drew political criticism, particularly over its association with the controversial hospitals privatisation deal involving Vitals Global Healthcare and later Steward Health Care.

The magisterial inquiry uncovered how Ivan Vassallo had drafted an agreement whereby Eurybates – a company that would benefit Schembri, Mizzi, Vassallo, Pierre Sladden and Adrian Hillman – would help Ergon in submitting a tender to design and build the Paola Primary Healthcare Regional Hub.

A Greek consortium, Salfo-Ado JV, also entered into an agreement with Eurybates to provide business information services. This consortium went on to win a tender for project management and technical supervisory services for the Paola regional healthcare hub.

No money was identified to have flown into Eurybates, but a parallel company called Encore Trading Ltd – under the control of Ivan Vassallo and Pierre Sladden as associates of Keith Schembri – received almost €100,000 in October 2019. Investigators suspect these payments were a kickback for the Paola Regional Hub tender.

While the health centre remained a government-led initiative, concerns were raised over transparency and accountability in the broader context of public health infrastructure projects. Opposition figures and residents alike had voiced frustration at the slow progress, with the empty facility standing idle for several years despite public promises of imminent completion.

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