Background Pakistan reported more than a million cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, shuffling the already resource-constrained health system that is known for its high vulnerability and lack of adaption. Objective To find out the level of preparedness of public hospitals for the novel COVID-19 pandemic in Lahore district. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from April to July 2021 among all 18 public hospitals under Specialized Health Care and Medical Education (SHC&ME) in Lahore by administering World Health Organization (WHO) and SHC&ME modified and pre-tested interviewer based and observation checklist. The level of preparedness was assessed for 11 domains, and each domain was scored as a dichotomous variable (Yes and No). Hospital preparedness was labeled as 'acceptable,' 'insufficient,' and 'unacceptable.' Descriptive statistics were run by using SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY), and data are presented in the form of tables and bar graphs. Results Out of 18 hospitals, only three (17%) had an acceptable level of preparedness for COVID-19 (>70%). An unacceptable level of preparedness (<35%) was seen in one hospital (5%). Fourteen hospitals (78%) were insufficiently prepared (35-70%). Conclusion The study highlights the suboptimal preparedness in 83% of the public hospitals with a consistent pattern of deficiencies in surge capacity, logistics and resource management, essential services, including diagnostics, infection prevention, and control.
Keywords: health system; novel coronavirus; preparedness; public hospitals; resource shortage.
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