Rivers Govt Shuts down 21 Health Facilities

The Rivers State Government has shut down 21 health facilities and arrested three persons for operating below minimum standards and without registration with the state Ministry of Health.

Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, revealed this during the ministry’s anti-quackery committee third quarter press briefing, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday.

Dr Wachukwu revealed that the action followed surveillance reports of over 150 health facilities operating without registration and supervision by the Ministry across four local government areas of the state, including Port Harcourt local government (PhALGA), Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre and Etche.

The Perm Sec stated that of the 150 health facilities monitored, only about 20% of registered health facilities comply with the mandatory annual inspection and renewal of the certificate of standards. “These 20% include both hospitals, diagnostic centres, and maternity homes.

“Now, a total of 21 health facilities were shut down, with three persons arrested for prosecution by the Ministry of Health across the local government areas.

The facilities include eight hospitals, five maternity homes and eight diagnostic centres.

“Nineteen of them were operating without registration and below the minimum standard of the Ministry of Health. One facility was registered by the Ministry of Health, but even after registration, it continued to operate below the minimum standard. At the time of the visit, there was no licensed doctor nor any other health worker present in the facility,” he said.

Dr Wachukwu stated that the facilities that were sealed included: Manda Hospital at Elelenwo, Vasty Clinic at Omoku, Danny Clinic in Port Harcourt township, Havilla Hospital in Igwuruta, Kambel Hospital at Abara Eche, Golden Era Hospital in Igwuruta and Ola Oluwa Hospital in Igwuruta.

He stated that Manda Hospital at Igwuruta was found to be involved in child trafficking. “The operation was equal to suspected child trafficking racketeering in which a Liberian National revealed the procurement of three children within a month from the facility.

“Investigation found the facility operating without registration, with no licensed medical practitioners. Operators were arrested by NAPTIP while the facility was sealed off,” the Perm Sec stated.

He also stated that Havilla Hospital in Igwuruta, operated by one Mr Isaac, who claimed to be a 2013 doctor trained in Ukraine, was conducting free medical outreaches, “but had no Medical and Dental Council licence and is operating without any form of training and in an unregistered facility.”

“He was arrested and will also be referred to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria,” Dr Wachukwu stated.

He also stated that Ola Oluwa Medical Centre in Igwuruta is an unregistered facility operated by Mr Sunday Ogundele, who has no medical training and runs it from his family residence. “He has been arrested and handed over to the Nigerian police force for prosecution for impersonation while his facility was sealed,” he said.

He also mentioned that the owner of Kambel Hospital in Abara Etche and Golden Era Hospital had no licensed health professional, no doctor, no nurse, and operated the facility without registration, adding that the owner was also arrested and the facility sealed.

Dr Wachukwu, however, stated that the owner of Serah Maternity, Belema Polo, in Enugu waterfront, Port Harcourt township, was warned and directed to undergo further training and licensing.

‘Of course, if you know the lady who operates that place, she is a social media influencer, talks so much about women and their treatment, especially in infertility. She runs a TBA called Serah Maternity at Belema Polo. She has a patient load of up to 1,000 women and daily attendants of almost 200, if not more.

“Now because we found out that she had some level of training, we cautioned her and then advised her on the need for proper and more training. We also tried to use her to reach out to other traditional birth attendants (TBAs) on the need for them to secure proper training because we can’t stop traditional birth attendants completely.

“They have their role to play, and the state government has also played a role in ensuring that they are trained and will continue training them to render proper service. But our goal is to ensure that they don’t cross the red line. They should know where they are supposed to stop and refer to a hospital for proper management so that they won’t be killing our mothers,” he stated.

The Permanent Secretary further revealed that 16 other sealed facilities were found to be unregistered and not to meet the minimum standards set by the Rivers State Facility Registration Act No. 2 of 2019.

He reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to its regulatory function and to eradicating quackery from the state, as part of its mandate on health security. He also noted that the exercise is a continuation of the anti-quackery mandate to stamp out all unregistered facilities and those that operate without minimum standards and are staffed by untrained medical personnel.

He appealed to the public to report any suspicious medical facilities and health practices to the ministry. “We mandate all registered facilities to display their certificate of standards at the reception of their facilities. This will enable you and me to know when you enter a facility, if this facility is actually registered by the Rivers State Ministry of Health,” Dr Wachukwu stated.

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