PN questions suitability of preferred bidder for Gozo hospital

Shadow health minister Claudette Buttigieg has questioned whether the preferred bidder chosen for the privatisation of the Gozo General hospital is indeed suitable, and whether the necessary due diligence was carried out in the selection process.

Speaking at a joint press conference with shadow Gozo minister Chris Said, Buttigieg said that she had tabled a parliamentary question about whether or not the preferred bidder for the project,Vitalis Global Healthcare/Bluestone, was looking for investors for the privatisation.

"Is the company not strong enough to make the investment on its own?" Buttigieg asked, pointing out that health minister Konrad Mizzi had not denied the claims in his reply.

"It appears that the preferred bidders have not found the money to invest which begs the question whether the proper due diligence was carried out."

She added that she had also urged the minister to table the agreement with the bidder, but that he had "claimed commercial sensitivity".

"In its pre budget document, the government referred to the Barts hospital in Gozo although the medical school has denied that they are investors in the project, " she added, stressing that the government should be transparent.

She reiterated her call for the government to publish its agreements with Barts medical school, Vitalis Global Healthcare/Bluestone, and she further urged transparency with the concerned Gozitan employees.

Said explained that very little had been said after the preferred bidder was chosen, which had naturally garnered uncertainty among employees.

"The hospital employs over 900 people, including 800 employed by the public sector and another 100 by the private sector," Said said.

"These employees are uncertain about their future mainly because the hospital is their only option unless they decide to work in Malta."

Said added that under the current government, the education and health sectors were no longer in the Gozo ministry's portfolio.

He further questioned whether the privatization of the facility would have occurred had the sectors remained under the Gozo ministry in the first place.

"Workers and unions do not know any other information and they are questioning why the facility will be privatised, whether this will affect the performance and services of the hospital," he added.