The Rivers State Government has closed two hospitals for using unqualified staff and operating without the necessary registration and licenses.
The hospitals involved are Adewon Hospital in Bori, Khana Local Government Area, and St. Thomas Hospital in Eleme, Eleme Local Government Area.
The Rivers State Ministry of Health also shut down the Caprika Spa in Port Harcourt, stating that the owner was running the facility without proper training and qualifications.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, announced these actions during a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Sunday.
Dr. Oreh explained that Adewon Hospital was operating without registration and employed unqualified personnel. She added that St. Thomas Hospital was conducting a large health outreach without approval from the state, and both hospitals had been operating without proper licenses.
Dr. Oreh 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 would 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.”
She further explained that three facilities were sealed last week, including Adewon Hospital, St. Thomas Hospital, and Caprika Spa in Port Harcourt. The anti-quackery committee, working closely with the Nigerian Medical Association, is not only concerned with physical infrastructure but also with the qualifications and licensing of the personnel providing healthcare services.
“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,” Dr. Oreh emphasized.
She added that while the hospitals were run by doctors, many of them lacked the necessary surgical training and were using unqualified personnel for surgical procedures, creating dangerous situations for patients. “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.”
Regarding Caprika Spa, Dr. Oreh mentioned that the owner, who is an engineer with an unrecognized aesthetic certification, was promoting the spa on social media and attracting unsuspecting customers. “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.
Dr. Oreh also stated that beyond sealing the facilities, the state is taking measures to prosecute those involved. “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.”
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 also serves as the Chairman of the anti-quackery committee in the state, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu.
