Mater Dei 90 per cent complete

More than 90 per cent of construction work, internal finishes and engineering systems at Mater Dei Hospital have been concluded, Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech said yesterday.

The hospital's finished parts have been handed over to the Foundation for Medical Services (FMS) and the final work to install medical equipment and furniture is under way.

He was speaking at the hospital during a prize-giving ceremony for children who took part in an art competition and whose works will be used to decorate the wards.

Mr Fenech, who heads the Mater Dei steering committee, said staff had received training on medical equipment, which was being tested to ensure that it was working well.

The staff restaurant and quarters, blood bank, the central block, the hospital's main chapel and the chaplain's quarters are among the areas that have been handed to the FMS. He said that work on the radiology department would be completed by the end of the month. July 1, when the hospital is expected to be handed over to the FMS, would mark a new era for local medical services, he concluded.