The Health Facilities Regulatory
Agency (HeFRA) has shut down the Advanced Body Sculpt Centre, also known as the
Obengfo Hospital located at Weija in Accra for operating without license.
A team, led by the Registrar of HeFRA,
Dr. Philip Bannor closed the facility Friday morning [January 29, 2021] as part
of an enforcement exercise being conducted by the agency.
The Health Institutions and
Facilities Act 2011, Act 829 which established the HeFRA, empowers it to shut
down any health facility which does not meet standards established by the law.
Per the law, a person shall not
operate a health facility unless it is licensed under the act.
The Chief Executive Officer of
Obengfo Hospital, Dr. Dominic Obeng-Andoh did not
produce an operational license to the team when they visited the
facility Friday morning, leading to the closure of the facility.
Dr. Obeng-Andoh initially
challenged the appropriateness of the exercise and insisted that he had the
license to operate.
He described the exercise as “an
act of mischief” adding that “you are targeting us and you want to paint us
black.”
“We have been operating for the last 20 years and there’s no
way we’ll be doing this without a license,” he said.
After about 30 minutes
of haggling, Dr. Obeng-Andoh did not produce the license.
“Having the license to practice
is different from an operational license. The law requires you to procure a
license from us and since you have failed to do so, we have no option than to
close the facility,” Dr. Philip Bannor said in response to Dr
Obeng-Andoh’s claim of having a license to practice.
He subsequently ordered the
staff of the hospital to vacate the facility after which the facility was put
under lock and key.
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