Erbil hospital shut and six referred to court after woman dies in sealed operating theatre

ERBIL — A private hospital in Erbil has been permanently closed and its manager, along with five doctors and staff, referred to court after a 21-year-old woman died during surgery in an operating theatre the health ministry had sealed shut three months earlier.

Sara Tahsin died in the early hours of Wednesday at Rasoul Private Hospital. The hospital’s operating rooms had been officially closed since the beginning of June for failing safety requirements and placed under a government seal, the KRG Health Ministry said, and staff had no authorisation to operate there because the hospital has no intensive care unit.

Those involved entered the theatre through a rear entrance, the health minister said at a news conference, and the surgeon who carried out the procedure had been brought in from another city and was not registered to work at the hospital. The procedure was treated as an emergency although the hospital has neither an emergency department nor intensive care, conditions the ministry said contributed directly to her death.

The hospital will stay closed until the case is resolved, with patients moved to other facilities in stages, the minister said. The ministry has warned private hospitals, medical centres and clinics across the Region to comply with licensing rules and use only authorised staff.