Maltese patients at Gozo hospital to pay reduced ferry fares

Maltese patients who undergo treatment at the VGH Gozo General Hospital or attend the hospital’s outpatients department will be charged reduced Gozo Channel ferry fares, equl to those paid by Gozitans, Gozo minister Anton Refalo announced on Friday.

Refalo was attending a press conference at the Gozo General Hospital on the occasion of the commencement of infrastructural work on the Barts Project.

Also present were OPM minister Konrad Mizzi and Prof. Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education & Director of the Institute of Health Sciences Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The medical school will be developed within the existing Gozo General Hospital building in Rabat, and will cover an approximate footprint area of 2,400 square metres and a gross departmental area of 4,500 square metres, set on four floors.

Refalo said that future generations will thank this one for seeing through a project such as the Barts School of Medicine, which was expected to inject €9 million each year for 15 years into the Gozitan community.

“Thank you, because this is a dream that is coming true, a vision that all Gozitans had but never thought it would actually happen,” he said.

Demolition works on the Barts Campus in Gozo could start after the Planning Authority  gave the project its final green light, earlier this month.

The pharmacy stores, ambulance garage  and the maintenance stores have been transferred to temporary locations across the hospital grounds, as the old building are slated to be demolished to make way for excavation and piling works which will start next week. 

Foundation works are expected to take eight weeks, after which the main building will be constructed, featuring a frame structure conposed of concrete columns and a propriety roofing system.  

Dr Nadine Galea, VGH Gozo General Hospital CEO, said that the Barts project will pave the way for Gozo General Hospital to become a teaching facility. 

"Evidence shows that the presence of medical students in a hospital pushes the quality-of-care bar higher," she said. "We look forward to having Barts and the London students amongst us, so that we may contribute to their education and development."

Mizzi said he was delighted that Barts had reaffirmed its commitment to Malta through the development of a world class institution. 

Gozo minister Anton Refalo

“We anticipate this project will ultimately involve multiple stakeholders,” he said. “Now, as part of the regeneration of the medical centre, permits will be pursued for the construction of main hospital, and the designs and schematics have already been approved.”

Mizzi said the key focus during the transition remained on making sure care will still be given to patients while construction is going on. 

He said that Vitals Global Healthcare had started stripping St Luke’s Hospital and removing all the asbestos from the buildings, in a clean-up project that is expected to cost €1.5 milion.

Warrens said that a lot of thought had gone into making sure that their work and programmes did not impact operations and courses offered by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malta.

He confirmed that around 15% to 30% of Barts School’s curriculum will need to be delivered at Mater Dei Hospital or other institutions.