Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/694236
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2016 3 MIRIAM DALLI THE company Vitals Global Health- care will take over the management of three state hospitals, the Gozo General Hospital (GGH), St Luke's (SLH) and Karin Grech Rehabilita- tion Hospital (KGRH) over a pe- riod of two months, Health Minis- ter Chris Fearne and Vitals Group Healthcare director Ram Tumuluri told MaltaToday during a press briefing yesterday. Contracts for the 30-year conces- sion signed with VGH will be tabled in parliament before the end of year. But workers in these hospitals will retain their status as government employees and they will remain on the government's payroll, the min- ister said. VGH will be managing these hos- pitals while operating them for medical tourism, which should provide the company a substantial profit, keeping specialists engaged and ensure the service provided to all patients – Maltese and foreign – remains of the highest level. "Whilst operations will move to VGH's management, the govern- ment will continue working directly with the workers' unions. For the duration of the concession, we will respect any decision that is agreed to between the government and the workers. In order to provide the comfort and the stability that the workers need, negotiating relations will be strictly between the govern- ment and unions," Tumuluri said. Whilst new workers replacing older workers will be enrolled on the public payroll, new workers work- ing on new initiatives provided by the investor will be engaged through VGH. Both Tumuluri and Fearne gave an assurance that the 'same pay for same work' principle will apply. Moreover, workers will be given the option to work additional shifts if they'd want to. Some 1,600 workers are currently employed at GGH and KGH, with the team expected to expand to 2,400 workers. In Gozo alone, Vitals expects its project to create some 600 additional jobs. Fearne said that all services will remain free of charge, a radical push towards medical tourism will be given whilst Maltese and foreign patients will receive the "exact same" healthcare treatment. Of the 450 beds in Gozo, 100 will be reserved for medical tourism, while at Karin Grech, 320 beds will be for Maltese geriatric patients. At St Luke's Hospital, where extensive refurbishment will take place, 150 out of 350 will be for rehabilitation. 80 of these beds will be available for Maltese patients whilst 70 have been reserved for medical tourism. Vitals was one of three bidders for the €220 million redevelopment of the three hospitals. "The hospitals required substantial investment and the government partnered up with the private sector. The plan is to con- tinue buying beds from VGH at the same budget we're currently spend- ing," Fearne said. Vitals is a wholly owned subsidi- ary of Bluestone Investments Malta, which in turn is owned by Bluestone Special Situations 4 Limited, a pri- vate equity fund based in Singapore and managed by the Oxley Group. The company is seeking to have 3,500 beds worldwide with similar PPPs in five other countries. Tumuluri promised a reduction in red tape with the move into private- public partnership: "Even the sim- plest decision of engaging an anes- thesiologist takes three months with a public procedure. This is eliminat- ed in the private sector." Together with Partners Healthcare International, VGH will provide a campus in Gozo for Barts School of Medicine and Dentistry, the preemi- nent medical school. Tumuluri said Vitals was expecting an annual €200 million investment through its partnership with PHI of Boston, one of the leading integrated academic health care systems in the United States. Vitals has roped in Nadine Delicata and Stephen Delicate as CEO for Gozo and Karin Grech respectively, as well as interventional cardiologist Albert Fenech and Professor Mark Brincat, who will lead the Centre for Women's Health at St Luke's. The same hospital will host special cen- tres for diabetes and dermatology, in partnership with the State. The government and Barts will have a seat on a 12-member medical board, together with PHI and Vitals CEO and physician Armin Ernest. Vitals plan to have rehab beds at St Luke's operational by September 2017, and start expanding the hospi- tal on a wing-by-wing basis. Works at Karin Grech started im- mediately. News In Malta since 1956 SUMMER OFFERS 21 st June to Santa Maria FREE GIFT WITH YOUR CANDY PURCHASE www.vdemajo.com.mt 137, Antoine De Paule Square, Paola. Tel: 21 66 11 22 Workers at privatised hospitals left on State payroll Yes to 'skener' but no to 'windskrin', proposals on loan words unveiled TIM DIACONO AFTER seven years of research, the National Council for the Maltese Language has taken a stance on which words borrowed from Eng- lish should take the Maltese spell- ing. The decision could spell an end to words like windskrin (windscreen), ħoki (hockey), xokebzorber (shock absorber), fajerekstingwixer (fire extinguisher), unjin (union) and xater (shutter), as the Council ruled that compound words and words whose Maltese orthography is very unlike the English spelling should be written in English. Exceptions will be made for words such as ċansijiet, kejkijiet and jik- klikkja that have been assimilated into the Maltese grammatical form. The Council has taken a flex- ible stance with regard to Manglish words that closely resemble the English word, leaving it in writers' hands whether to write computer or kompjuter, file or fajl, scanner or skener. This does not mean that a verb stem in Maltese has to be the same as a noun. So the verb skenja (to scan) will be conjugated into ni- skenja and skenjajt in Maltese, but both scanner and skener will be ac- cepted as nouns. All the forms of the same noun or verb should, as far as possible, keep the same orthographic stem, both in Maltese and in English. So it would either be brejkijiet/brejks or brakes (but not 'brakijiet'). The Council unveiled its "com- promise" proposals at a seminar for Maltese teachers, authors, transla- tors and journalists. "We are confident that, although it is difficult to please everyone, the final decisions will actually be a solution that will help the Maltese language continue to develop with fewer problems," the Council said in a statement. Maltese teachers at the seminar suggested that the proposals be in- troduced following a moratorium of between three to four years, dur- ing which the public will be educat- ed on the new rules. Teachers were not all on the same page as to whether they should mark 'Manglish' words by their stu- dents as incorrect. Junior College lecturer David Aloisio dismissed as "arguments based on fear" warnings that a failure to tick off students could open the floodgates for more Maltese words being written in their Manglish version. Some people present at the semi- nar warned that allowing words like computer to stand in Maltese sen- tences could confuse dyslexic stu- dents, given that the 'c' in Maltese is always dotted. One man insisted that words like hockey should be written in Maltese as ħoki, given that the non-silent h is always crossed in Maltese and the letter y is absent from the language entirely. The proposals will be open for public consultation until 2 July, af- ter which the Council will publish a final, official document. Health Minister Chris Fearne (right) and Vitals Group Healthcare director Ram Tumuluri yesterday Vitals was expecting an annual €200 million investment through its partnership with PHI of Boston Ertajt or airtight? The Council for Maltese Language is proposing the abolition of bastardised words