PM announces new private hospital within Smart City

Synesis Limited, a new Maltese-Italian company, is to invest €100 million towards the construction of a new private hospital aimed to draw medical tourism to Smart City, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced earlier today.

The hospital will operate in strategic alliance with international healthcare giant Johnson and Johnson which, according to Synesis Ltd was "an innovative element, which goes beyond the simple supplier relationship of health centres".

The hospital, which will be called ‘S. Joannes Paulus II Hospital,’ is intended to become a “medical centre of excellence” for the Mediterranean and is planned to open in 2017. The investment will be made through Synesis Limited, a new Maltese-Italian company.

Health Minister Konrad Mizzi said that the investment was a testament to the pursuit of excellence, saying that he was encouraged by Synesis’ vision.

Mizzi announced that the new hospital will employ around 500 people and will gravitate to specialist fields, particularly orthopaedic and sports medicine. Genomic medicine will also be pioneered in Malta from this facility. The hospital will be collaborating with international specialists and incorporate Maltese professionals from the university and other training institutions.

Francesco Rosi, the director of the Italian and Maltese management team in charge of the project explained that the hospital will be a mono-specialistic facility covering an area of 16,000 square metres, 23,500 square metres including the grounds. The hospital will provide medical education and research and will also feature a cadaver laboratory-one of a handful in the region.

The hospital will also house the Dynamo Camp Association, a non-profit organisation that provides respite to children and teens suffering from chronic illnesses.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat explained the importance of the investment to Malta saying that the project was an “important step in auctioning the vision of creating healthcare cluster in the centre of the Mediterranean”

Muscat said Smart City, which two years ago “was a project lagging behind, a problem” is now a solution which would “attract high net-worth individuals to the island, improve the healthcare system and encourage young people to work in this sector.”

The Prime Minister pointed that the investment came “back to back” with the agreement for the setting up of the Bart’s Medical School in Gozo.

The medium-term focus, said Muscat, is to create educational projects to prepare young people for a career in the health sector.