Open AccessKey Characteristics of a Fragile Healthcare Supply Chain: Learning from a Pandemic
Author(s) -
Anne Snowdon,
Michael Saunders,
Alexandra Wright
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
healthcare quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 1710-2774
DOI - 10.12927/hcq.2021.26467
Subject(s) - pandemic , key (lock) , supply chain , health care , business , best practice , covid-19 , process management , medicine , computer science , marketing , computer security , economics , management , economic growth , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the many challenges that provincial health systems have experienced while scaling health services to protect Canadians from viral transmission and support care for those who get infected. Supply chain capacity makes it possible for health systems to deliver care and implement public health initiatives safely. In this paper, we present emerging findings from a national research study that documents the key features of the fragility of the health supply chain evident across the seven Canadian provinces. Results suggest that the fragility of the health supply chain contributes to substantive challenges across health systems, thus limiting or precluding proactive and comprehensive responses to pandemic management. These findings inform strategies to strengthen supply chain capacity and performance in order to enable health systems to effectively respond to pandemic events.