The Kano State Private Health Institutions Management Agency (PHIMA) has shut down more than 35 private health facilities for serious regulatory violations in the past 12 months.
The Acting Director-General of PHIMA, Hajiya Khadijah Sa’id, disclosed this in Kano, explaining that the closures were part of efforts to enforce standards and protect residents from unsafe healthcare practices.
Sa’id said the agency had sanctioned more than 100 facilities for various violations, including operating without licences, failing to renew annual registrations and employing unqualified personnel.
“We sanctioned over 100 facilities for one mistake or the other. But those that committed gross violations that we cannot overlook, we shut down over 35,” she said.
She explained that some facilities were temporarily closed to allow their operators to correct identified violations before reopening. However, facilities found guilty of serious breaches could be permanently delisted, while their proprietors could be barred from registering another facility with their professional licences.
“Once a facility is delisted, it will not be registered again. The person holding the professional licence will also not be allowed to register another facility,” she said.
PHIMA regulates private hospitals, clinics, nursing and maternity homes, diagnostic laboratories, dental centres, beauty salons, spas, fitness centres and traditional, complementary and alternative medicine practitioners.
Sa’id said the agency worked with other government bodies and security operatives to identify and shut down illegal facilities. She cited a clinic that had been sealed and delisted but later reopened at another location.
The agency is strengthening routine inspections across Kano State’s 44 local government areas to ensure compliance with licensing requirements and professional standards.
Sa’id said additional funding and operational vehicles would improve inspection coverage and enforcement. She urged private healthcare operators to obtain the necessary licences, renew registrations promptly and employ only qualified personnel.
