Vitals deal was blatantly 'unethical' from the very start, Josie Muscat claims
Josie Muscat told BusinessToday that when he had met Ram Tumuluri, CEO of the VGH consortium, on the possible sale of St James Hospital, he had immediately recognised Tumuluri was a fraudster and had proceeded to show him the door
by Paul Cocks
It was obvious from the very beginning that the Vitals Global Healthcare deal was rigged and that the consortium’s deal with the government was unethical, the chairman of St James Hospital Group said today.
Dr Josie Muscat told BusinessToday that when he had met Ram Tumuluri, CEO of the VGH consortium, on the possible sale of St James Hospital, he had immediately recognised Tumuluri was a fraudster and had proceeded to show him the door.
“I have always stated that the VGH deal with the government was unethical and the NAO’s report issued this week confirms just that, and so much more,” Muscat said.
In a damning report published on Tuesday, the National Audit Office said that the multi-million euro deal to transfer three State hospitals to an obscure private company was “predetermined” and pointed an accusing finger at an agreement signed between the government and some of the investors involved in Vitals Global Healthcare before even the request for proposal was published.
The NAO said government was reluctant to provide it with a copy of the pre-tender agreement, reinforcing concerns over the “integrity of the eventual concession”.
The 200-page report was tabled in parliament and is only one of three audits concerning the VGH hospitals deal. The first report is a review of the tender process up to the point that VGH was selected as preferred bidder. The other two reports will be released at a later date.
Muscat said that Tulumuri used to brag about the frequent meetings he had with then health minister Konrad Mizzi, and about the many evenings he spent having dinner at the minister’s house.
According to Muscat, Tumuluri’s and the government’s complicity was evident on numerous occasions.
In one instance, when Tumuluri had boasted that the consortium would be bringing over specialists from America to work here, he had been told that getting the Medical Council’s go-ahead for such employment was a very long and complicated process.
“But Tumuluri brushed all words of caution aside and said that Mizzi had assured him that the Medical Council would toe the line,” Muscat said.
Tuuluri allegedly also used to boast about his office in Castille and the compant he kept.
“I remember once, when I was with my group’s medical director, Tumuluri boasted how he was so much better informed about what was happening at Mater Dei Hospital than we were,” Mizzi said. “That was just one of many times where Tumuluri’s character and intentions were made clear to those around him.”
Termination of contract
Opposition spokesman Dr Stephen Spiteri said that the hospitals contract, now in the hands of Steward Healthcare, should be immediately cancelled and the hospitals returned to the Maltese.
Spiteri said that the NAO had confirmed what the PN had been saying all along: that it was way past time the contract be rescinded and that the process had been tainted from the very start.
“Doctors, nurses, experts and the entire healths sector have previously agreed with the PN on how the VGH and Steward deals were not beneficial to the Maltese,” he said.
“Now it is the country’s foremost authority reporting to parliament that is saying the process was tainted and highlightimg numerous instances of contention with the who process.”
Spiteri said that the government should realise and admit that it is time to stop playing around with the hospitals and to finally get serious about the large amount of money the country had already lost on the deal and continued to lose every day.
“We should now be focusing on ending the contract,” he said. “It is time to take our hospitals back.’
