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Group Of Doctors Takes Over Steward Health Care… What Does This Mean For Malta?

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Ownership of Steward Health Care is changing hands after a group of doctors gained control of the company by buying the share of the majority shareholder.

Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre confirmed that Cerberus Capital Management agreed to sell its controlling share to a group of doctors who actually work with Steward. The American corporation has 37 hospitals across nine states and employs more than 42,000 people.

“This is a transformational moment for the healthcare industry, with new realities in a COVID-19 world that must be addressed with an equally transformational, patient-first approach,” de la Torre said.

It remains to be seen what this will mean for Steward’s operations in Malta.

Steward operates the Gozo General Hospital, St Luke’s Hospital and Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital. They took over the concession from Vitals Global Healthcare.

The latter was forced to sell off their operations just 21 months in amid growing financial debt, which stood at €36 million by the end of 2017. Its CEO, Ram Tumuluri, still made off with a €5 million bonus.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue threatened to come to a screeching halt after Steward called for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela over the state’s failure to cough up some €18 million in due reimbursements.

Abela has said that discussions on the government’s contract with Steward Healthcare have been placed on the back-burner until the COVID-19 coronavirus situation clears up.

Lovin Malta has reported how Steward was given assurances by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi on the deal when taking over. It has also been revealed that Malta will need to pay a €100 million should the concession be rescinded.

What do you think the deal will mean for Malta?

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Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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