Government announces €1.5 billion healthcare infrastructure masterplan

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela on Monday announced a long-term healthcare infrastructure masterplan that will see the development of a new hospital at Gozo General Hospital, the regeneration and expansion of St Luke’s Hospital and the refurbishment of Boffa Hospital.

The government said the Healthcare Campus Masterplan exercise has now been concluded and the project is moving into its next phase, which includes design development and the preparation of public tenders required for implementation.

According to the government, the €1.5 billion plan is aimed at transforming Gozo General Hospital into a modern and resilient healthcare campus serving both Gozo and Malta, while the redevelopment of St Luke’s Hospital into what it described as a “modern health village” is expected to unfold over a 15-year period.

The studies underpinning the masterplan included demographic analysis, assessments of Malta and Gozo’s future healthcare needs, and the identification of shortcomings in existing services.

Abela said technical studies, geotechnical investigations, healthcare service planning and campus masterplan designs had been carried out in recent months to lay the foundations for the national project.

Renders of the upgrading of St Luke's Hospital

He added that preparatory works had already begun to relocate the northern section of the Gozo campus to make way for the construction of the new hospital building.

Among the permanent infrastructure projects already at an advanced stage is a new helipad, which is expected to become operational during the third quarter of this year.

Abela said the project is intended to increase hospital capacity, introduce new specialised services, strengthen emergency preparedness, reduce waiting times and bring more healthcare services closer to the Gozitan community.

Renders of the upgrading of St Luke's Hospital

“The government remains committed to building healthcare systems that serve patients with excellence and are ready for the future,” Abela said.

Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg said the masterplan had been drawn up with the involvement of local and international experts, taking into account the shortcomings and circumstances of previous years while looking ahead to future healthcare needs.

Borg said the first phases of the plan are already under way at Gozo General Hospital as well as at St Luke’s and Karin Grech Hospital.

He added that the government was continuing to invest in improving healthcare services through better facilities for workers, new equipment and an expanding range of medical services in both Malta and Gozo.

The announcement comes years after the collapse of the controversial hospitals concession granted to Vitals Global Healthcare and later transferred to Steward Health Care.

The concession, signed in 2015, had promised major investment and the refurbishment of St Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech Hospital and Gozo General Hospital.

However, many of the pledged projects failed to materialise, prompting years of political controversy, court battles and public criticism over the state of Malta’s healthcare infrastructure.

In 2023, a court annulled the concession, describing it as fraudulent and heavily critical of the manner in which the deal had been awarded and managed.

A number of government officials and ministers, including former prime minister Joseph Muscat, former minister Konrad Mizzi and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri were criminally charged over the deal .