Government issues call for proposal for St Luke’s, Karin Grech, Gozo hospitals

Projects Malta Limited has issued a calls for proposals for a services concession for the management and operation of St Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and Gozo General Hospital.

The request for proposals is being provided against the payment of a non-refundable fee of €5,000.

The services concession is for the redevelopment, maintenance, management, and operation of the sites at St. Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and Gozo General Hospital.

The government is expecting a €200 million investment from the private sector to transform the Gozo General Hospital (GGH) and St Luke’s Hospital in Gwardamangia into medical hubs and sites of medical tourism.

Last week, an agreement with the Queen Mary University of London was signed with Professor Anthony Warrens, institute director at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry to open an overseas campus in Gozo in September 2016, welcoming some 300 students over five years.

A new private hospital in Gozo – for both Gozitans and medical tourists – will provide 250 new acute beds adding to the existing 200 geriatric beds bringing the total of beds in Gozo to 450.

Studies estimated that Gozo will receive a cash injection of up to €9 million annually when the Barts medical school starts operating at full capacity. The 15-year agreement with Malta Enterprise, would mean a cash injection of around €100 million over the 15-year span, in terms of students’ lodging needs, per diem spending, visiting relatives and the wages of non-academic staff such as cleaners, who are likely to be Gozo residents. Malta Enterprise has estimated that the medical school will be equivalent to a factory employing 500 people.

Barts will not be building the campus itself. The actual structure will be built by a private investor that has to be chosen after the government issues the request for proposals to gauge interest in a €200 million overhaul of the Gozo and St Luke’s hospitals.

The private investment and the setting up of the Barts Medical School will lead to a dedicated research and development centre and the development of a new primary health care centre within the precincts if the GGH.

Karin Grech Hospital is set to become a fully-fledged geriatric hospital, offering 270 beds. St Luke’s Hospital will be converted into an 80-bed rehabilitation centre, offering the the latest test facilities and technology in rehabilitation services.

The dermatology department, with 35,000 visitors a year, will be relocated from Sir Paul Boffa Hospital to St Luke’s.

The full investment at St Luke’s Hospital should lead to the creation of 250 beds for medical tourism.