The Rivers State Government has sealed two hospitals for using unqualified personnel and operating operating without due registration and licensing.
The hospitals included, ‘Adewon Hospital in Bori in Khana Local Government Area and the ‘St Thomas Hospital’ in Eleme, Eleme Local Government Area.
The Rivers State Ministry of Health in vein sealed the ‘Caprika Spa’ in the state, adding that the proprietor operated the facility without the requisite training and qualification.
The state further warned public/private, religious bodies, corporate entities and Non-Governmental Organizations to henceforth desist from carrying out any form of medical outreach without a written approval from the State Ministry of Health.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh, who disclosed this at a news briefing in Port Harcourt, yesterday, noted that ‘Adewon Hospital in Bori was operating without registration and was using unqualified personnel.
Oreh noted that ‘St Thomas Hospital’ in Eleme, was carrying out a massive health outreach without approval, regretting that the facilities have been working without proper licensing.
She said: “When we set up the anti-quackery committee of the Rivers State Ministry of Health aimed at sanitizing our healthcare environment, we hoped that it would have sent a very strong message in a very short time.
“And those practitioners that have been conducting themselves without the necessary licensing, without the necessary qualification backing, the necessary personnel to deliver healthcare services we hoped that they wound find a way to correct whatever establishment they had going on by seeking the advice and guidance of the Rivers State Ministry of Health on how to proceed with their practice and the services they provide in their facility.
“Unfortunately we have three facilities that have had to be sealed in the last week. ‘The Adewon Hospital located in Bori, Khana Local Government Area. The St Thomas Hospital in Eleme and the Caprika Spa in Port Harcourt.” She explained that the anti-quackery committee working very closely with the Nigerian Medical Association looks out for certain things which go beyond the physical infrastructure and facilities in any health facility.
“It is not just about the building façade and the facility itself. The manpower who is delivering such healthcare services must have the requisite qualification backing, the requisite licensing and registration for them to carry out certain services.
“For the two Hospitals they have been run by practitioners, they are indeed Doctors, but in several cases we have identified that even the subsequent surgical training required to carry out surgical procedures is lacking.
“For most of the surgical procedures they are using unqualified personnel to deliver surgical services. Now those are recipes for disaster. And so for everyone who works in such facilities, their lives are at risk because the personnel there do not have the necessary training to ensure that quality medical and surgical services are provided in those facilities.”
Oreh added: “For the Caprika Spa, the proprietor I think is an Engineer with a so-called aesthetic certification that is neither recognized nor can be identified but advertising and promoting via social media and enticing an unsuspecting public to their facility.”
She said beyond sealing the three facilities that measures are being taken to ensure those concerned are prosecuted to serve as deterrent.
The Health Commissioner said: “We don’t take these incidents superficially. We are in a climate where all sorts of things can take place under the guise of medical and surgical services. We know that there is a booming market globally for organs.
“As long as their doors are open under a false premise, meaning they are not qualified or trained to provide such services. It is therefore a criminal act that is taking place in such establishments.
“And so even despite the fact that their facilities have been sealed which we are publicly notifying now, further steps are being taken by the committee to ensure that they face the full wrath of the law because they are jeopardizing the lives of people in Rivers State where they establish these facilities providing such services.”
However, Present at the briefing were the State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Diomond Tamunokuro and the Director of Medical Services, Rivers State Ministry of Health, who doubles as the Chairman, anti-quackery committee in the State, Dr Vincent Wachukwu.
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