Vitals to sell hospitals concession to US operator
An American hospital company is set to buy the 30-year concession from Vitals Healthcare for the operation of the Gozo, St Luke’s and Karin Grech hospitals.
The surprise announcement was made at the staff Christmas party on Wednesday evening.
The news was confirmed on Thursday morning by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who said the move was a vote of confidence in Malta by another major US firm and that all aspects of free health PPP had been preserved.
The new owner describes itself on its website as the largest private hospital operator in the United States, in stark contrast to Vitals, which has no track record in the sector.
The controversial concession with Vitals was signed in March 2016, but has been plagued by controversy since the agreement was signed with Ram Tumuluri, a South Indian-born businessman who signed the deal on behalf of the Singapore-based shareholders. In a tweet on Thursday, Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg said she had warned about the dubious deal with Vitals.
The investor group behind Vitals Global Healthcare actually signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government before it won the tender. The MoU was mentioned in...