Mater Dei Hospital
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Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta, is the new state of the art national hospital of Malta. It opened its doors to the public for the first time on 29 June 2007. The 250,000 sqm complex includes 825 beds and 25 operating theaters. It was designed and built exclusively by the Swedish construction firm Skanska, and as of May, 2008, it is the largest operational hospital in Europe.
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[edit] History
The idea for a new hospital was first conceived in 1990 (17 years before it's official opening), when it was decided to build a specialised hospital of 480 beds to complement St Luke's Hospital, which was also to be modernised. In the original plans, the hospital was to be specialised in diabetes, cardiology, degenerative diseases and other chronic illnesses prevalent in Malta and other Mediterranean countries. It was to be managed by the Monte Tabor foundation which runs a chain of San Raffaele Hospitals in various countries in the world, offering, free of charge, specialised health care. The Foundation for Medical Services was set up in December 1990 and eventually design work started in 1993 by Ortesa Spa. The foundations for this hospital were laid in 1995 by Skanska.
When the Malta Labour Party came to power in 1996, the concept of a small hospital for specialisation changed to a 1,000-bed general acute hospital which would replace St Luke's completely.
In 1998, after the newly re-elected Nationalist government took over, the project was reevaluated and plans were redimensioned to 825 beds. The final decision was that the new hospital would become Malta's principal general hospital while incorporating elements of specialisation, research and learning.
The contract for the building of Mater Dei Hospital was signed between the Maltese government and Skanska Malta JV on 29 February 2000. An amendment agreement signed in April 2005 provided that the hospital should be completed and pass into the hands of government by July 2007, including phases of work which previously were to be completed by 2010.
Meanwhile, this seemingly linear progression has been laced with several corruption allegations and at least one court case resulting in a conviction. So dramatic was its lifespan, that at one point, the project was wrested away from the health minister himself, Dr. Louis Deguara, and taken under the direct control of the prime minister.
Even after that, a number of incidents kept this hospital in the general psyche, the latest probably being the flooding incidents of the first week of June 2007.
[edit] The Cost
Much debate has arisen due to the project's spiralling costs. Total investment on Mater Dei is estimated to have reached the sum of €580 million. This includes the cost of around €338 million on the building contract and design with Skanska Malta JV, €63 million on medical equipment, €23 million on IT systems, €14 million on furniture, €4.5 million for the expropriation of the land, and other amounts on a number of ancillary contracts.
Such a huge expense - which former prime minister, now president Edward Fenech Adami admitted sent shivers down his spine - was bound to fuel large amounts of controversy. While there is no doubt that Mater Dei is a huge improvement on the grey and crumbling St Luke's hospital, many have raised questions as to the wisdom of building a new public hospital at a time when worldwide free health care is facing a crisis. Others have wondered whether money spent on building the new state of the art hospital could have been better spent on upgrading targeted health units.
[edit] Other Issues
Still others have pointed out the enormous difficulties in administration the new hospital will present, especially with the current shortage of human resources. Other issues that have been raised include the hospital's expensive running costs (a staggering €10 million a month) and the need for a broader reform of the healthcare system, such as tackling the issue of doctors' postgraduate training to stem the current brain drain and the spiraling costs of medicines. They point out that the hospital might accelerate the demise of the national health system - which it has been built to sustain - and that guaranteeing the sustainability of the national health system will become the focus of Malta's healthcare challenge in the future.
Some of these issues are already in the process of being tackled, says Chris Scicluna from the hospital's PR and Communications Unit. He points out that besides the hospital's obvious benefits such as its state-of-art equipment, it will include new wards which were not present at St Luke's, such as the new Cardiac Medical Unit. Other wards will include features which did not exist at St Luke's such as the Special Care Baby Unit.
Mr Scicluna also points out that the human resources problem is being addressed through a recuitment drive, with a total of 49 vacant positions amounting to 418 posts being advertised between February 1 and April 10, 2007. These include 110 staff nurses, 56 clerks/receptionists, 43 health assistants, 38 senior house officers, 31 deputy nursing officers, 17 pharmacists, 17 physiotherapists and midwives.
As of 2008, the hospital was not undergoing independent hospital accreditation. Malta's healthcare system is based on the British model, so Malta may look towards a UK-sourced international healthcare accreditation scheme.
[edit] Trivia
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- Every patient in Mater Dei Hospital has access to internet, TV, radio and telephone from their own bed. Those services, however, are provided against a fee, in the form of pre-paid access cards.
- Other facilities include a nurse call system, similar to an intercom system and a CPR button in every room which is directly linked to the cardio-pulmonary resusciation team by pager system. For technical reasons, the latter system is not yet operational.
- Patients have possibilty of choosing food from a menu which is provided by a private contractor and distributed in special trolleys. Only three other hospitals in the world use advanced technology in special trolleys.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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