The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital on Monday, received its official license from the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), after satisfying the licensing requirements under the Health Institutions and Facilities Act 829.

The operational license for the Hospital was jointly presented by Nana Otuo Acheampong, the Board Chairman of HeFRA and Mr Mattew Yaw Kyeremeh, the Acting Registrar of the Agency, to Dr Daniel Asare, the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital at a brief ceremony to officially acknowledge the facility as a licensed teaching hospital in Ghana.

They both commended the management and staff of the hospital for the collaboration and commitment towards ensuring the attainment of the required health standards to deliver quality health care to Ghanaians. He said the hospital was awarded 75 per cent in the assessment carried out by HeFRA in terms of facilities, equipment, personnel and services provided, thereby satisfying the standard required for the license to be issued. Nana Otuo Acheampong explained that the license was to be renewed every three years.

He said earlier on the hospital was given six months to come up with an Action Plan to immediately resolve the challenges that had emerged after the previous assessment and subsequent issuance of its license by HeFRA, which, unfortunately, earned the facility some bad media publicity. He urged its management to maintain or improve upon the standards, adding that licensed facilities would still be monitored by his outfit, and cautioned all other health facilities that had not yet initiated steps to acquire a license from HeFRA as required by the law.

Nana Otuo Acheampong said any health facility which failed the assessment risk being closed down as part of the efforts to sanitize the health sector to ensure quality healthcare for the public. Dr Asare recounted the strenuous processes that the facility had to go through to acquire the license. “This was critical to maintain a certain level of standard for quality health care delivery,” admitting that the constant monitoring by HeFRA Officials, would also put managers of health facilities on their toes and make them more efficient.

He thanked all the Officials of HeFRA who assisted the Hospital throughout its registration and assessment processes and gave an assurance that the Management of the facility would swiftly collaborate with its stakeholders to develop a Plan of Action within the stipulated time frame, to address the problems that had risen after its assessment and licensing.

The present challenge of the hospital he said had to do with some of its infrastructure which had become very old and obsolete over the long years of usage. He cited its sewage system as a major concern, and the need for the construction of a processing plant to take care of the massive waste that was generated on a daily basis. HeFRA is mandated by Part One of the Health Institutions and Facilities Act 829 Act to register, inspect, license and monitor all public and private health facilities in Ghana.

In January this year, HeFRA encouraged all public and private health facilities in the country to register with the Agency as required by the new law and gave an ultimatum up to June 2019, after which the necessary sanctions would be implemented against those who failed to comply with the directive.

It is mandatory that all health facilities displayed their licenses at vantage points and members of the public are being advised to look out for these certifications anytime they visited any facility.

Source: GNA