The Nationalist Party has pledged to scrap a deal that privatised three state hospitals and promised to build a new hospital in Gozo if elected into government. PN MPs Chris Said and Kevin Cutajar as well as candidate Josephine Xuereb announced the proposals as part of 10 new healthcare ideas the party said it would undertake in Gozo if voted into government. In 2016, the government transferred three state hospitals; St Luke’s, Karin Grech and the Gozo General Hospital, to Vitals Global Healthcare in a controversial and secretive 30-year agreement. After facing financial difficulties and defaulting on a number of contractual commitments in the agreement, including the investment of €200 million in new medical facilities, Vitals transferred the concession to Steward Health Care in 2018. The government has since entered into talks with Steward to see how the deal can be evolved, with cabinet given a presentation about returning the hospitals to the state in January of this year. Said said the PN proposals were important because the Labour government had “sold off” Gozitans' access to efficient health care behind people’s backs, adding there were a number of clear avenues to...