Investigating Disaster Response Capability and Exploring Solutions to Improvement Response Process of Hospitals to the Infectious Diseases Pandemic: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Hospitals play a crucial role in local and national responses to various emergencies and disasters, including outbreaks of communicable diseases. This study aimed to investigate the disaster response capabilities of hospitals and to explore solutions for improving their response processes to infectious disease pandemics (IDPs) in Iran.

Methods: This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (quantitative and qualitative). In the quantitative phase, we assessed the response levels of reference hospitals (government, military, and private) in Kerman City, Iran, in 2023. This assessment utilized a researcher-designed questionnaire to evaluate the hospitals' capacity to admit pandemic patients. In the qualitative phase, we explored solutions to enhance the response processes of hospitals to IDPs through semi-structured interviews and a conventional qualitative content analysis approach.

Results: The quantitative results indicated that the overall response level of hospitals to IDPs, with a mean score of 152.88±18.28, was moderate. The qualitative findings identified four main categories and nine subcategories of solutions to improve hospitals± response processes to IDPs.

Conclusion: Hospitals are vital in providing quality healthcare during emergencies. Lessons learned from our institution's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will guide more efficient services and preparedness for future emergencies. Given the novel nature of the COVID-19 virus and the potential for similar pandemics in the future, a structured framework is needed to manage epidemic disasters effectively.