On 4 September, Andrejs Leibovičs, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AS “AB City”, together with representatives of the group’s companies, participated in a meeting convened by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs to discuss the lessons learned from storm “Priska” and Latvia’s preparedness for prolonged crisis situations.
“Mēness aptieka”, “Recipe Plus”, “Veselības centru apvienība” and “Centrālā laboratorija”, having successfully maintained business continuity and effective crisis management during the recent storm, submitted specific proposals aimed at strengthening the overall continuity and resilience of healthcare services and the supply of medicines.
One of AB City Group’s key proposals is to work together with the national and local authorities to establish, in advance of a crisis, a clear framework for ensuring the continuity of critical healthcare services, including a map of critical facilities and a system of priorities.
This framework should identify critical medicine supply facilities, pharmacies and healthcare service points that must remain operational during a crisis, as well as the infrastructure they require and the support needed from national or local authorities.
Equally important is ensuring clear and timely information exchange. Healthcare companies should know in advance which institution will provide operational information during a crisis, through which communication channels it will be delivered, how companies should report on their operations and available capacity, and what actions will be expected of them in a given situation.
AB City also believes that crisis preparedness plans should define more clearly the role of private healthcare providers and laboratories. If, during a prolonged crisis, the private sector is expected to accommodate additional patient flows or help reduce the burden on hospitals, its role, the procedures for activating this capacity, and the capacity required should be clearly defined in advance. One of the proposals is to establish agreements with private healthcare providers already at this stage, defining the level of capacity to be made available during a crisis and the conditions for maintaining it.
Laboratory diagnostics, in turn, should be recognised as an integral part of healthcare continuity. Hospital continuity plans should therefore also provide for the continued delivery of critical laboratory functions within hospitals during a crisis.
AB City group companies are fulfilling, and remain committed to fulfilling, their role during crisis situations. At the same time, the group emphasises that a resilient healthcare system requires timely coordination, close cooperation and a shared understanding among national and local authorities and the private sector of the role each stakeholder plays.
