Gérer la crise de la première vague de COVID-19 : retour d’expérience d’une agence régionale de santé

Abstract

The crisis linked to COVID-19 has shaken up the organization of healthcare in France, particularly its administration. However, little is known about the crisis management action by the regional health agencies (ARS), at the crisis' forefront.Based on an internal feedback exercise, thanks to a qualitative method dealing with cross-referencing documentary sources and semi-structured interviews (90), this monograph reports on the regional management of the COVID-19 crisis of an administrative organization over the first half of 2020 by analyzing the temporal and organizational dynamics of crisis management, the role of this public authority, the public health strategies mobilized to tackle the epidemic in interaction with regional and national actors.From January to June 2020, COVID-19 management has been characterized by the sudden disruption of the usual benchmarks and agendas of priorities and by an unusual installation over time. The agency found itself in a permanent adaptation-reaction situation, setting up an ad hoc crisis management organization. It positioned itself as a key player, interacting with various actors and relying upon a wide range of public policy tools to do so.This monograph highlights the management of a recent and unprecedented social and healthcare crisis which questions usual health management knowledge and skills, at national and regional levels in France. It demonstrates the interest of crisis feedback discussions, with both internal and heuristic objectives.