PUBLIC HOSPITALS FACED WITH COVID-19: Lessons From Logistics Management

The coronavirus crisis has highlighted main challenges in supply chain management. The European example shows that public hospitals have made effective logistical decisions and learned relevant and applicable business lessons from companies.

Although other parts of the world have been affected, Europe will probably remain the geographical area most affected by COVID-19, with more than 50% of all deaths from the pandemic. Public hospitals in Spain, Italy, France and the UK, in particular, had to manage a huge wave of patients in acute respiratory distress between March and April 2020, whose lives depended on intensive care equipment and specialized health professionals. However, it soon became apparent that some public hospitals lacked the necessary equipment and health professionals, resulting in the risk of high excess mortality, especially for the most vulnerable individuals.

While the number of COVID-19 deaths in Europe is ultimately high (over 180,000 COVID-19 deaths at the beginning