License to Operate Diagnostic/ Therapeutic Medical Centers

 A license to operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical centers is submitted to the Free Medical Treatment Department in the competent Health Affairs Directorate. The license is a requirement for every facility where one or more licensed physician practice the profession.

The medical facility has to be fully equipped to receive patients and provide the necessary care; provided that it is specialized in one field of profession including all its branches and specialties; and operate under the supervision of an authorized technical director. The facility is allowed to provide a maximum of 25 beds for accommodation, in addition to the possibility of performing surgical operations.

Below are the most important documents and procedures required to obtain a license.

What are the Required Documentation?

• A license application for the medical center is submitted to the competent Health Affairs Director.
• A proof of the existence of fire extinguishers or a receipt for their purchase, a hazardous waste handling license and an incinerator contract.
• Technical drawing approved by a union engineer, measuring 1/150, indicating the location and details of each floor, and a statement of the center’s equipment.
• A copy of the center’s ownership contract; or a notarized or dated lease contract at the Notary Public.
• The certified documents of the Technical Director, doctors (latest qualification/union card/contract with Technical Director), and nurses (professional license/copy of ID).
• Approved health certificates for kitchen or cafeteria staff.
• A declaration by the Technical Director that he is the competent director in charge of the center and does not hold a similar position elsewhere.
• Official Union Registration Certificate.

What are the Required Procedures?

• Submit an application to the Director of the Free Medical Treatment Department in the competent Health Affairs Directorate.
• Check with the competent Health Affairs Directorate in the governorate and the Director of the Free Medical Treatment Department to examine the licensing documents and the application file.
• An on-site inspection of the Center, and an inspection report is prepared if all the requirements are fulfilled.
• The license is received from the competent Directorate.

What are the License Cancellation Cases?

• If the licensee requests to cancel the license, or if the facility is suspended for a period exceeding one year.
• If the center is relocated to another location, rebuilt, or modified in a manner that violates the provisions of the law.
• If the center is proven to provide services other than the licensed purpose or if a court order is issued to permanently close or remove it.
• If a violation is repeated despite the imposition of the legally prescribed penalties.
• If the working staff; whether physicians or other medical professional workers, do not have a license to practice medicine.
• If the Technical Director is changed, the owner of the Center must notify the competent health directorate in the governorate and the competent sub-syndicate of the new Director within two weeks by a registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. The owner has to appoint a new Director within two weeks from the date of notification, and must notify the competent health directorate of his name; or hold the Center's activities until this matter is resolved; otherwise, the competent authority shall close the Center administratively until the new Director is appointed.

Rules and Restrictions You Should Need:

• The medical center must be managed by a physician licensed to practice medicine. A physician may own more than one private medical clinic, but may not manage more than one medical center other than private medical clinics. 
• The medical center shall abide by the Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession, especially in advertising and publicity media, so that the facility shall not be advertised except after the approval of the Ministry of Health. The advertisement may not include methods of diagnosis or treatment.

Special Requirements for Operating a Medical Facility/ Center:

• The rooms have to be well-lit and ventilated; they also have to be equipped with means to supply constant clean water and with appropriate means of sanitation.
• The facility has to be equipped with the necessary sanitary means and tools to dispose of garbage and waste, in addition to the necessary fire extinguishing devices.
• Patient rooms and operating rooms in medical facilities have to be planned and divided in accordance with the Ministerial Resolution on Organizing Medical Facilities under Law No. 153 of 2004.
• There should be a place to store files, records, medicines, supplies and medical equipment necessary for nursing work, as well as a paging device.
• Each medical facility should have an appropriate number of physicians proportional to the number of beds (one resident doctor for every twenty beds), and an appropriate number of licensed nurses.
• The owner of the medical facility may not add any data on the sign or the prescription contradicting or violating the data in the license.

The professional license conditions have to be met; i.e. only persons whose names are registered in the Ministry of Health’s register may carry out the following works:

• Medical, bacteriological or pathological chemical research, analysis or tests, or preparation of any type of biological formula, or expressing opinions on medical, bacteriological or pathological chemical issues or analyses.
• Licensed human physicians may conduct some research, analyses or preliminary tests in their clinics, provided that the purpose is to diagnose their private patients only.

Conditions for the Ministry of Health registration:

• To be an Egyptian or from a country that allows Egyptians to practice medicine.
• To have a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from an Egyptian university, or a foreign degree or certificate in Medicine or Surgery.
• To have a good conduct certificate, and not to have been previously convicted of a crime/felony involving a breach/violation of honor/public trust, unless there has been a vindication of character.

The penalty for managing a medical facility that has previously been closed by a court order or an administrative decision; or for obtaining a license through fraud or by exploiting a physician's name:

• For the management of the facility, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine ranging from a minimum of ten thousand pounds to a maximum of twenty thousand pounds. Whoever exploits the name of a physician shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine ranging from a minimum of twenty thousand pounds; or by one of these penalties. The physician who permitted his/her name to be exploited shall also be punished. The judge may order the immediate closure of the facility, and the owner may not object.

Whoever commits any violation of the provisions of this law shall pay a fine ranging from a minimum of two thousand pounds to a maximum of twenty thousand pounds. In the case of professional violations, the medical center may be placed directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.