Malta’s Health Minister Ian Borg has confirmed that the government is studying plans to replicate the Ċensu Moran Regional Health Centre model in the north of the country, following a visit to the Paola facility where he reviewed its progress with management and clinical staff.

The Paola hub has treated more than 190,000 patients since opening last September and Borg pointed to the centre as evidence that primary and secondary healthcare can be delivered together effectively at a community level, reducing the need for patients to travel to Mater Dei Hospital for services previously available only there.

Health Minister Borg indicated that the government is monitoring the Paola model closely before committing to further sites. The minister noted that the centre would expand its offering in the coming months, with dermatology, ENT, dental and orthotics clinics, advanced cardiac investigations and additional specialist oncology and paediatric services all planned.

Medical Administrator Michael Farrugia, who guided Borg through the facility, outlined how the centre currently brings GP walk-in emergency care, X-ray services, an ophthalmic operating theatre, treatment rooms and a broad range of specialist outpatient clinics under one roof. The result, he noted, is less pressure on Mater Dei, shorter waiting times and care that is closer to where people actually live.

The northern hub has been a government commitment for some time, though it attracted scepticism as recently as December 2024, when former health minister Jo Etienne Abela described it as a short-term impossibility given critical shortages of healthcare personnel across the sector. Borg’s visit and his remarks about studying replication plans suggest the project has regained some momentum, even without a confirmed timeline.

The Ċensu Moran centre’s early performance appears to be making the case for the model. Treating the equivalent of a significant portion of Malta’s population in under a year is a meaningful data point and the planned expansion into more specialised services will only deepen that argument as the government assesses its next steps.