St Michael Hospice restoration to bring ‘significant improvement’ to local palliative care, says BOV CEO

Bank of Valletta (BOV) CEO Kenneth Farrugia on Friday highlighted the importance of the ongoing works at the St Michael Hospice project in Santa Venera, with it representing a “significant improvement” to palliative care in Malta.

This came as Mr Farrugia, together with BOV COO Ernest Agius and Head CSR Charles Azzopardi visited the building. BOV is supporting Hospice Malta in the transformation of the building formerly known as the Adelaide Cini Institute into a “state-of-the-art centre” offering comprehensive palliative care, a “first of its kind” in Malta.

The BOV delegation was given a tour of the complex by Hospice Malta Chairperson Bernadette Bonnici Kind and CEO Kenneth Delia, showcasing how works are progressing nicely, with the first patients expected to be welcomed towards the end of the year.

While touring the building, Mr Farrugia expressed satisfaction at the advanced state of the works, saying that BOV was “among the first organisations” to support Hospice Malta in the project as part of its CSR strategy and as a “caring citizen of the Maltese community”.

“We are very confident that this project will bring about a significant improvement in the lives of those members of our society requiring palliative care and the lives of individuals who require special care in difficult circumstances, both physically and emotionally,” he added.

Ms Bonnici Kind remarked that the “newly-refurbished building will become the main premises for Hospice Malta and is expected to help further enhance the already-established palliative community services provided by Hospice since 1989”.

“This building will house the Hospice In-Patient Palliative Care Unit in Malta, complementing all the other services for a more comprehensive approach. The present-day therapy services will be expanded, and Out-Patient clinics will also be introduced,” she explained.

She added that St Michael Hospice will also enhance its educational wing which will “open many opportunities to exchange expertise with other Hospices across Europe and beyond”.

Hospice Malta’s primary role is to provide and promote palliative care for persons suffering from end-of-life cancer and motor neuron disease. Throughout the years, as the awareness and the need for palliative care increased, Hospice Malta included other conditions within its mission statement so that presently, community-based services are also offered to patients suffering from end-of-life cardiac, respiratory, renal, liver diseases and most recently, Creutzfeldt Jacob disease and Multiple sclerosis.