Steward Health Care Malta has said that it has “continued to make progress at Gozo General Hospital marked by the response letter sent to the Planning Authority in what is being considered as yet another major milestone for this project.”

In a statement on Thursday, Steward said that the team has made “considerable progress in its endeavours at the Gozo General Hospital campus.”

Dr Nadine Delicata, President of Steward Malta, further explained that, “Key clinical objectives which guided the planning of the new acute care hospital included expanding inpatient bed provision, establishing the site as a disaster centre for Gozo with enhanced capabilities to provide acute care services during a crisis, incorporating design elements and technology that are unique to a teaching hospital and including a helipad to establish on-site emergency transfer capabilities to improve patient care.”

She added that, “a complete renovation of the existing Gozo General Hospital building will transform it into a vibrant ambulatory centre and complement the new acute care hospital.”

“The new acute care hospital and refurbished Gozo General Hospital will themselves be physically connected and sited to integrate the recently completed Barts Medical School into a holistic medical campus to support teaching, learning and clinical care,” said Dr Delicata.

She went on to say that “the submission of the Response to the Planning Authority Screening Letter will facilitate additional dialogue among project stakeholders as the application advances through the regulatory planning approval process and takes us one step closer to establishing the highest quality care facilities in Gozo and Malta.”Steward also said that yesterday the company submitted its application to redevelop the St Luke’s Hospital Campus to the relevant Planning Authority.

This has been possible through an intensive effort to involve a broad cross-section of the hospital communities, external stakeholders and Government of Malta leaders in the development of the plans, it said.

Steward explained that its officials have worked hand in hand with Ministry for Health senior officials who have played an active and supervisory role throughout the development of these plans, ensuring that the clinical standards set out in the concession are reached.

“Regular dialogue with Planning Authority leadership and staff guided our progress, together with input from the Environment and Resources Authority, Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Transport Malta, each of which provided thoughtful feedback that informed the planning direction,” it said.

“The development approach was informed by a detailed analysis of existing site and building conditions and a review of clinical service opportunities to ensure the best possible patient care; all within the context of local Planning Policy.”

Steward went on to say that, “at the broadest level, the redevelopment in Malta is centred on a full revival of the St Luke’s Hospital Building, increasing the quality and accessibility to open space and gardens within the campus grounds, enhancing community cohesion by integrating the main entrance and Pjazza San Luqa, and establishing a more coherent internal circulation system which provides on-site car parking while strengthening safe access to the public school.”

The submission of the Application for Development Permission will facilitate additional dialogue among project stakeholders as the application advances through the regulatory planning approval process, it said.

Steward Malta added that it welcomes that conversation as all stakeholders work together to transform the delivery of health care at St Luke’s Hospital Campus.

Commenting on the submission, Dr Nadine Delicata explained that the submission of this application marks a year of careful planning and collaboration.

She concluded by saying that, “St Luke’s Hospital has served the Maltese community as the main hospital for decades and remains a place of significant cultural importance. We wanted to carefully look at the space and design a modern-day hospital which allows us to provide the best clinical care possible, yet which leaves the historical integrity of the facility untouched. It is needless to say, that re- fitting and re-purposing such a space to meet modern clinical needs is significantly harder than developing a new green-field hospital, but we are extremely proud of the end result and look forward to beginning works to see the realisation of this vision.”

Top photo by Anthony Zammit and below by Steward Malta

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