Experts to check private hospitals’ compliance with licensing standards

AMMAN – A new panel of experts will start conducting field visits to the Kingdom’s private hospitals to check their adherence to their licensing standards, according to an informed source. 

The committee, formed on Monday by the Health Ministry, came a few weeks after a video shared on social media showed the body of a child preserved in a refrigerator designed for medical purposes,  and not for corpses’ preservation, in a private hospital in Zarqa Governorate. 

The video, which stirred widespread controversy, triggered further investigations that showed that the hospital’s licence did not obligate it to have a morgue refrigerator unit. Therefore, it should have transferred the bodies to other hospitals equipped to preserve the bodies.  

“The incident prompted the ministry to form a panel responsible for checking private hospitals’ obedience to rules and regulations,” health ministry spokesperson, Hatem Azrui, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday, noting that the committee members started their field visits to private hospitals on Tuesday. 

He added that the panel is expected to complete a round of 60 visits within two months and refer its reports to the ministry, which will issue fines and warnings according to the severity of any violations. 

“The panel will evaluate hospitals according to a specific check list in order to ensure the comprehensiveness of the process,” the spokesperson noted.

On the other hand, Azrui stressed that the private medical sector in Jordan enjoys a “very good reputation”, which makes it a favoured destination for medical tourism for patients from the region and the rest of the world. 

“Many private hospitals are providing services that are in line with the best international practices,” he highlighted.