16,554 health facilities to be shut down from April 1 over licence issues

More than 16, 000 health facilities which have not been licenced by the Heath Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) will be shut down from April 1.

Every health facility in both the private and public sector is required by law to seek licence from HeFRA which is mandated to ensure the facilities conform to standards before being allowed to operate.

Also, HeFRA is to ensure that health care delivery is fairly priced and involves competent and accredited professionals, utilizing the right type and well-functioning equipment.

According to the Agency, of the 18,000 health facilities dotted around the country, only 1,446 have so far secured the licence.

Board chairman of the HeFRA, Nana Otuo Acheampong who revealed this Wednesday during a tour of four health facilities in Accra announced all facilities that have not yet received the licence have up to March 31 to begin the processes or face a shut down.

The LEKMA Hospital in Teshie and Gokals Opticals were among the facilities visited which had not yet applied for the HeFRA licence.

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital had initiated the process but was yet to conclude to receive the licence. CEO of the hospital Dr. Daniel Asare was optimistic his outfit will meet the deadline for accreditation.

“Those who do not meet the 31st March deadline risk being closed down, and we have said that over and over again,” Board Chairman of HeFRA, Nana Otuo Acheampong stated, and described as unfortunate, the failure of the facilities to acquire the licence.

He indicated the process was simple and urged all the operators of the unlicenced facilities to ensure they apply for the licence before the deadline.

“There is no one standard for all, there are different standards so when they come our technical team will go through to see that where they go in for that inspection, you meet the minimum standard.

“If you don’t, then we will put in recommendation to put things right and then your license will be given to you,” Mr. Otuo Acheampong stated.