Obengfo Hospital Shut Down For Operating With No License

The Health Facilities Regulatory Agency has shut down the Advanced Body Sculpt Centre also known as the Obengfo Hospital which is 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 in Ghana 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 to produce the license. Having license to practice is

different from an operational license. The law require 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.