St Philip’s Hospital owner wants to be ‘treated equally’

St Philip's Hospital owner Frank Portelli feels that he is being treated unfairly and accused both parties in Parliament of discrimination towards him, over the prospective lease-and-buy of his hospital to the health ministry.

At the end of October, the government had said that it would present the lease agreement for St Philip's Hospital in Parliament, to the Public Accounts Committee, however this never materialised.

The proposed agreement will see government pay €850,000 per year with an option to buy the 100-bed hospital for €12.4 million from the third year.

During the PAC meeting held on 24 October, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said that the contract would be presented to the committee once the contract is sent back by the hospital's owners.

Since then, the St Philip's contract which had stirred up political controversy and dominated the political agenda for weeks, was put on the backburner and was overtaken by other issues.

"I am ready to sign the contract. However, I feel that I am not being treated equally. This is the first time that a lease agreement is being scrutinised and approved by parliament before being signed. I am being discriminated against by both sides of the House," Portelli said.

Asked at what stage the negations are, whether they hit a snag and when will the contract be signed, a finance ministry spokesperson telegraphically told MaltaToday: "Negotiations are ongoing."

Portelli, a former PN president and MP explained that he expected the deal to be signed "imminently" and said that he was not concerned with the delay.

When the deal first hit the headlines in October, the Opposition, Independent MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Nationalist MP Franco Debono accused the government of fast-tracking the deal and called on it to submit the contract for parliamentary scrutiny before it is signed.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Frank Portelli said he is confident that the deal will be signed. However when asked what the chances are of the agreement getting the nod from the PAC, Portelli said: "It all depends on how many crazy people make up the committee."

Asked why he feels that he is being treated differently, the former PN strategist said: "All I am asking is fairness in this country. I ask why some service contracts which run into millions are concealed from public scrutiny while the St Philip's contract has to be approved by Parliament."

Last week health minister Joe Cassar revealed that during a nine-month period between January and September 2012, CareMalta, a private elderly care provider owned by construction magnate and well-known PN donor and activist Nazzareno Vassallo, received €1.93 million for the services it provided.

However, The minister did not provide any details in regards to Zammit Clapp Hospital, which provides a specialised service to elderly patients requiring assessment, management and rehabilitation through an interdisciplinary approach.

Zammit Clapp Hospital is managed by CareMalta, however Cassar refused to publish the contract when asked in a parliamentary question earlier this year, and declined to publish it when asked by MaltaToday.

The refusal to publish a copy of the contract had opened up Cassar - and government - to questions of favouring confidentiality on a public matter, on the basis of political allegiance, due to the ownership of CareMalta.

Cassar had insisted that the contract cannot be made public due to a third party signatory that did not give its permission for a copy of the contract to be published.