The Latakia Health Directorate closed three private hospitals in Latakia governorate (western Syria) for one month under an administrative decision issued on Tuesday, July 14.
The closures followed an inspection conducted by the General Authority for Control and Inspection, which found violations of approved health and technical requirements and standards.
The directorate said through its official accounts that the decision was issued after the violations were documented during the inspection. It confirmed that monitoring campaigns targeting private medical facilities would continue to ensure compliance with regulations and laws and protect patient safety.
Repeated Violations Preceded Closures
The Latakia Health Directorate told Enab Baladi that the closure decision followed the detection of repeated health, administrative, and technical violations.
The directorate said the hospitals had received several previous warnings before the closure decision was issued. It added that the violations were not limited to one area but involved multiple breaches that required administrative action.
The directorate did not disclose the names of the hospitals or details of the specific violations. It said the closure order was issued after all stages of notification and warning for the noncompliant facilities had been exhausted.
Meanwhile, social media pages circulated the names of three private hospitals that they claimed were covered by the administrative closure decision in Latakia. They identified them as al-Daraj and al-Nada hospitals in Latakia city and al-Asaad Hospital in Jableh, but the directorate did not officially confirm the names.
Ain Shaqaq Clinic Closed
The Latakia Health Directorate had also closed the Ain Shaqaq clinic in the Jableh countryside on June 12. The decision prompted objections from residents and healthcare workers, who said it would affect health services for thousands of people living in villages affiliated with the subdistrict.
In a protest statement addressed to the Health Directorate, residents called for the closure decision to be reconsidered and for the clinic to remain operational. They said it was the only government health facility providing basic medical services to a large segment of the population.
The statement said the Ain Shaqaq subdistrict includes more than 20 villages and residential communities. It added that the area lacks alternative health facilities capable of receiving the same number of patients or replacing the services provided by the clinic.
The Latakia Health Directorate told Enab Baladi that the decision to close the Ain Shaqaq clinic followed an assessment of the services it provided. According to the directorate, the clinic’s recorded a very low number of monthly visits compared with other health facilities in the area.
The directorate said several nearby health centers are located between seven and eight kilometers from the subdistrict and provide a broader range of medical services. These include the Siano and Banjaro health centers, which the directorate said could receive patients and meet residents’ healthcare needs.
It added that the distribution of health facilities is governed by specific organizational standards. These include maintaining a designated distance between facilities under Ministry of Health regulations to ensure that services are distributed effectively and not duplicated within a limited geographical area.
The directorate also said the buildings occupied by the Ain Shaqaq clinic are not owned by the Ministry of Health. Instead, they belong to other entities, including community associations and local administrative units, which was among the factors considered when the closure decision was made.
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