Ekiti State Ministry of Health has sealed off five private hospitals in the state for not complying with government’s operational guidelines.
A statement from the ministry listed the affected hospitals as Devine Citadel Hospital, Ado-Ekiti; Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Maternity and Hospital, Emure Ekiti; Emmanuel Medical Clinic, Emure Ekiti; Lexical Clinic, Ise Ekiti and JOA Medical Centre, Ado-Ekiti.
Quoting Kola Adu, the director Hospital Services and Training, who was said to have led the ministry’s monitoring team on the inspection tour of private hospitals that culminated in the closure of the health facilities, the statement warned that any hospital found wanting would be made to face the wrath of the law.
The clinics, the statement added, were sealed off for offences including operating in an unhygienic environment, using unqualified and inadequate personnel as well as non-registration of their health facilities and failure to renew their operational licences.
He cautioned patients against patronising unlicensed private clinics, stressing that the warning was for their safety.
Adu also charged other private health facilities in the state to properly register and renew their operational licences, saying that the state government would not hesitate to invoke the full weight of the law on erring proprietors.
He explained that the state Ministry of Health commenced an aggressive monitoring and inspection of all private Health Institutions to maintain a reasonable standard in the health care sector in order to further reduce mortality and morbidity rate in the state.
The director further said that the proprietors of the sealed hospitals have been directed to report to the supervisory ministry, stressing that anyone that failed to comply would be further sanctioned.
