Firms may share new hospital work

A new building at Mater Dei hospital may see one contractor handing the baton to another halfway through the project. Plans for the hospital’s expansion shifted from two floors originally planned on top of the emergency unit to a new building consisting of five storeys and a basement. The new plans were approved by the planning authority last week. A tender had already been awarded for the construction of two floors above the emergency unit that would take an additional 68 beds. But the government said it was later advised that the structure was too weak to support the additional weight. Plans were then submitted to the planning authority for a six-storey building adjacent to the emergency unit. The additional floors are meant to serve as a National Crisis Unit. Read more on Times of Malta.