All patients are now back in the Gozo General Hospital’s (GGH) wards after the fire that broke out late on Sunday was brought under control, Steward Health Care Malta, the company which runs the hospital, announced.

The incident commenced after a fire started in the IT room of one of the hospital’s wards. While the fire was contained within this room and extinguished rapidly by the Civil Protection Department, it resulted in smoke spreading to a number of wards and rooms in the adjacent areas and hospital corridors.

Following this, all patients in the GGH’s male and female wards were immediately evacuated safely and transferred to its Outpatients Department and to the Barts Medical School within the GGH campus. Steward Malta stated that there were no injuries to patients or staff.

During the evacuation, Minister for Senior Citizens and Active Ageing Jo Etienne Abela said in a social media post that he was in “constant contact” with the hospital’s administration and closely following the situation. He also thanked the GGH’s staff and the Civil Protection Department for their work.

Once it was ascertained by hospital professionals that it was safe to do so for both patients and staff members, patients were returned to their respective wards.

Steward Malta thanked its staff members and the hospital’s Emergency Response Team that “immediately activated its contingency plans”. It also thanked the emergency teams, including the Civil Protection Department, Fire Department, and The Malta Police Force for their “prompt response on site”.

Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri, who was at the hospital, also confirmed on social media that the patients had been evacuated and the fire was extinguished.

Steward Health Care Malta runs two other hospitals apart from the GGH, with it also operating Karin Grech Hospital and St Luke’s Hospital. It forms part of the Steward Hospital Group, which also operates hospitals in nine states across the United States, with a network that includes over 5,000 physicians across 800 communities.