Speaker: Ruth Waitzberg
Research Scholar, Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, Jerusalem, Israel and Dept of Healthcare Management, Technical University, Berlin
Ruth Waitzberg is a Hebrew University graduate in public policy, and is completing her PhD. She is currently the Israeli representative to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a network of health policy researchers from > 30 countries working together to improve policymaking worldwide. Her research covers payment to health providers and financial incentives, health insurance, access to care, policy evaluation, health and long-term care systems, and international comparisons
European health systems differ in their features, level of funding, density of resources and workforce, and organization of service provision. COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to all health systems, even the most generous and prepared. Many public health measures to prevent transmission were implemented across most countries, such as limiting movement of individuals, imposing physical distancing, and mandating use of face masks. Yet, the way through which health systems re-organized to treat COVID-19 patients while maintaining essential services to non-COVID-19 patients diverged. We will review different strategies used in European countries and Israel to mobilize resources and workforce to meet pressing needs. We will discuss how governance influenced health system’s responses to COVID-19 so far, and what we can learn to better respond to future waves.
You can watch a recording of the event here.