Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/755517
7 VITALS Global Healthcare (VGH) – the new private operator of the St Luke's, Gozo and Karin Grech hospitals – has announced the appointment of its senior management team. The team will be led by chief executive officer Armin Ernst. Eric Buehrens will be taking on the role of chief operating officer and Mark Lisher joins as chief fi- nancial officer, the company has said. Moreover, it said that Nadine Delicata and Stephen Zammit will remain CEOs of Gozo General Hospital and Rehabilitation Hos- pital Karin Grech respectively. The team also includes Micky Singh in the role of chief informa- tion officer, Mina Popova as head of quality and risk, John Bezzina as head of human resources and Alessandra Pace as head of com- munications and marketing. VGH said that CEO Armin Ernst, who will be leading the team, is a "Harvard-trained and globally-renowned" pulmonolo- gist with seven textbooks and over 200 manuscripts to his credit. The group said that before join- ing VGH, Ernst held clinical and administrative leadership roles in major academic medical centres, large integrated hospital based systems, and ambulatory care set- tings in the United States. "Our aim is to deliver compre- hensive, high quality services to communities in Malta and Gozo, with excellence, compassion and competence. We do not believe in one-for-all plans, yet believe health care should be personal, innovative and patient-centred," said Ernst Prior to joining VGH, Buehrens had previously served as deputy provost for administration at Har- vard Medical School. Buehrens took on several leadership roles at a major Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and within other healthcare systems, the company said. Lisher is a highly experienced finance professional with over 25 years' experience, who has oc- cupied a number of director and CFO positions in contracting, programme management and fi- nance in various sectors, VGH said, adding that he has worked in healthcare environments for the last 14 years in a variety of posi- tions within the National Health Service (NHS) in the United King- dom. "I am confident that together with my team, we can see our vision through in a way that adds value to Malta and Gozo. The medical industry in Malta is blessed with many dedicated professionals and we are lucky to have them on-board as part of the team. I am looking forward to creating an environment where employees can thrive and grow further, and where patients can receive the highest levels of care possible," said Ernst. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2016 News Hospital privatisation operator VGH announces management structure YANNICK PACE THE government is legally obliged to publish the external emergency plan for the gas power station, according to Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) deputy chair- person Carmel Cacopardo. Speaking at a press conference in Birzebbuga, he said that the EU directive, known as Seveso III, which was also introduced in- to Malta's statute books, requires an emergency plan to be in place and for the public to be aware of what should be done in case of an emergency. Cacopardo said that in addition to having the plan made public, the authorities are obliged to carry out a public trial. Cacopardo said that the gov- ernment's argument, that the plan could not be published for reasons of national security, does not make sense since the exter- nal emergency plan should focus on what residents in the vicinity need to do. AD energy spokesman Ralph Cassar reiterated that AD is in favour of the shift to gas because the carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas are sig- nificantly lower than when burn- ing heavy fuel oil. "Our position is that we must shift to gas and increase our use of renewable fuels. Things how- ever need to be done well, with low risk of accidents and full transparency. The fact remains that had we had a government in the 90s, that took the en- ergy sector seriously, today we would have a gas pipeline and we wouldn't be here discussing gas storage units," Cassar said. Cassar rubbished claims that the power station was not need- ed, adding that it did not make sense to rely solely on the inter- connector. Moreover, he said that it was not true that there are no emissions by the interconnec- tor because carbon dioxide gen- erated elsewhere for energy used in Malta is still classified as hav- ing been generated by Malta. Alternattiva to take further action if power station emergency plan remains unpublished VGH has been entrusted with revamping the St. Luke's (pictured), Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals