LAUSR

The COVID pandemic has generated a massive and renewed attention on many aspects of health systems and health services delivery. Governance, integration, continuum of care, leadership and much more has been investigated and there certainly lessons we can learn from the past 18 months. Further, much attention has been placed on how technology could (and should) transform health services and medicine as we envisioned for many years and even beyond our imagination. Therefore, the health policy agenda is now rich in chapters dedicated to technology innovation, modernization of health structures, reconfiguration of governance, and to improvement of health system resilience. Yet, if one thing we learned from the COVID experience, is the pivotal role that human capital is still (and will) play in the health sector. Doctors, nurses, rehabilitators, health staff have done extraordinary things all over the world. As they always did in the past, every time we needed their professions, which indeed they interpret as missions. There might be a future in which robots and AI could substitute (part of) their capabilities and capacity. But certainly not the compassion, the closeness, the attention and ultimately the strength and support our health professionals have profuse to patient and relatives. Therefore, we dedicate this issue to all of them. It is not focused on COVID experience, but it tackles several dimensions connected to human resource management in health. We own to our health professionals the development of the best people strategy we can think of. No excuses. We hope this issue could contribute to this journey, toward health systems and organizations that could represent great places to work, if not the best. Thanks. We’re grateful. We won’t forget.