Gov’t delays private medical and dental clinics from opening

AMMAN — After expecting to open as of Sunday, private clinics affiliated with the Jordan Medical Association (JMA) and the Jordan Dental Association (JDA) have delayed opening their doors to patients.

After President of the JMA Ali Obous and President of the JDA Azem Qaddoumi held several meetings with Minister of Health Saad Jaber it was announced on April 14 that both associations’ clinics would open as of April 19.

However, at a press conference over the weekend, Jaber said that “due to the risk associated with large gatherings as well as sanitation concerns, the opening of private clinics has been delayed”.

Around 6,000 clinics are waiting to “contribute to reducing the burden on government hospitals during this crisis,” said Obous in a statement.

Citizens have been expressing their concerns in reaching clinics, given that the Defence Orders prohibit the use of cars and only allow travelling by foot.

“There will be no use to opening those clinics if we cannot use our cars. Some of us live in remote places,” Amal Mhaisen, a citizen who expressed her need to visit a gynaecologist, wrote on Facebook.

Both JMA and JDA have said that they have pitched ways of transport to the Ministry, among which was granting patients temporary permits or allowing them to use taxis, but the mode for visiting clinics has not been officially announced yet.

Qaddoumi said in a statement that patients “should only visit dental clinics in emergency cases that cannot be treated with painkillers. Such severe cases include nerve infections, acute oral infections and dental fractures”.

He also stressed that dentists who do not want to open their clinics for fear of the coronavirus are free to do so.

“We understand that dentistry is a risky profession right now since it involves a close and direct involvement with patients,” the JDA president added.

Obous and Qaddoumi recently said in a joint statement that the purpose of opening clinics is to “give citizens a chance to receive urgent treatment and allow doctors a chance to work after the long lockdown”.

Private clinic owners expressed their happiness at having their clinics reopened, with Latef Shorman, a general doctor, saying that “not all doctors and dentists are financially well off. Most own a small clinic for which they have to pay rent, secretary wages, electricity and water bills, among other things. Opening clinics is not a privilege, it is a necessity.”