The Edo State Health Regulatory and Monitoring Agency (EDOHERMA) has warned that health facilities operating below approved standards in the State risk permanent closure and payment of fines.
The Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Dr. Adesuwa Urhoghide-Edigin, issued the warning on Tuesday in Benin City while briefing journalists on the ongoing enforcement exercise across the State.
Urhoghide-Edigin said the enforcement was not intended to witch-hunt operators but to ensure compliance and safeguard the lives of patients seeking care in both public and private health facilities across Edo State.
She disclosed that more than 20 facilities earlier sealed by the agency are now working to correct the lapses identified during inspection.
According to her, some of the affected facilities were operating without registration with the state government, while others were registered but could not maintain the standards under which they were licensed.
“Even in the sealing we have been doing, we are also encouraging such facilities to know that we are not all punitive and that we are also supportive.
“Over 20 for now are doing what we have already asked them to do and, when they finish, we are also going to come back to the public to say this XYZ facility has done better,” she said.
Urhoghide-Edigin explained that the agency is currently carrying out enumeration and revalidation of health facilities across the 18 local government areas of Edo state to determine their true status and level of compliance.
“That is why we are revalidating,” she noted, adding that the exercise would help to fish out quack facilities operated by unqualified persons.
“Some of these facilities, there are no doctors there, and that cannot be a hospital. What we are trying to do is for everybody to stick to their scope of services,” she said.
The EDOHERMA boss noted that the agency’s regulatory mandate extends beyond private hospitals and clinics to include orphanages, shelters, public secondary hospitals and primary healthcare centres.
She said where deficiencies are found in public health facilities, the agency would liaise with the relevant authorities to ensure they are addressed.
She emphasized that the agency is adopting a collaborative approach and solicited the support of health operators, Edo State residents and the media.
She added that the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo is committed to ensuring that residents have access to healthcare facilities that meet approved standards.
“It is either you are standard or not, and that is where our categorisation comes in,” she said.