Updated 8pm - Added demolition plans

Demolition works have started to build a medical school in Gozo, less than 10 days after Vitals Global Healthcare obtained planning permission for the project.

Old structures at Gozo general hospital are being knocked down to make way for the Barts campus, which will host a school of medicine and dentistry across 2,400 square metres. 

Foundation works are expected to take eight weeks, VGH CEO Nadine Delicata said today. A press release announcing the demolition works did not include a projected timeframe for the completion of the campus.

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Dr Delicata said that the project would pave the way for Gozo general hospital to become a teaching facility. 

"Evidence proves that the presence of medical students in a hospital pushes the 'quality of care' bar even higher," she said. 

The new Barts campus is expected to cater mainly for international students and will be able to host about 300 trainee doctors by the end of its first five years.

Last month, the Times of Malta revealed that delays in building a new campus - the medical school was originally meant to start accepting students last September - had forced Barts to start tuition from temporary premises at a Gozo sixth form. 

VGH was handed a 30-year concession to Gozo, St Luke's and Karin Grech hospitals last year and has said it plans to inject €220 million to revamp the three facilities. 

The group's master plan for the whole Gozo hospital site, where it plans to build a new general hospital, is still being considered by the Planning Authority.

The buildings highlighted in yellow have been marked for demolition. Image: VGH