Health Minister hides payments to Gozo air ambulance providers

The Health Ministry, led by Jo Etienne Abela, is refusing to disclose the cost of a 24/7 air ambulance service operating between Gozo General Hospital and Mater Dei Hospital.

The Shift is informed that the multi-million-euro deal was struck with Gulf Med Aviation Services Ltd, a local company owned by businessman Simon Camilleri and his wife, Amata Camilleri.

The same company has been operating the service since 2016, as part of the scandal-ridden hospitals concession, first awarded to Vitals Global Healthcare and later transferred to Steward Health Care.

Following the cancellation of the concession after the courts declared it fraudulent, the same company appears to have continued supplying the service directly to the government without any competitive public tender ever being published.

A Freedom of Information request filed by The Shift seeking details on how much the service is costing taxpayers and how much the private company is being paid through seemingly irregular, repetitive, direct orders has been rejected by the Health Ministry.

The Ministry confirmed that it was still the same company used by Steward Healthcare providing the service but refused to disclose what it is being paid.

“The requested information is confidential and cannot be divulged,” the Ministry said in its reply.

The Shift has filed a complaint requesting reconsideration, arguing that the Ministry’s decision may be in breach of the Freedom of Information Act.

Publicly available information suggests taxpayers have already spent millions on the service over the past decade.

Under the original Vitals concession, the dedicated Gozo air ambulance service was reported to cost taxpayers around €1 million a year, covering up to 200 transfers annually. Actual usage was significantly lower.

In 2018, Steward said only 82 patients had used the service since February 2016, a fraction of the projected volume.

Before the Vitals’ concession, the service was reportedly carried out by the Armed Forces of Malta at a substantially lower cost.

Yet despite years of public funding, no publicly accessible contract award, tender, or Government Gazette notice has been identified by The Shift naming Gulf Med Aviation Services Ltd as the recipient of a direct government contract for the service in the past four years.

The issue is further compounded by the government’s decision to invest in additional infrastructure linked to the service, including a new helipad at Gozo General Hospital, estimated to cost more than €800,000, excluding VAT.