Into the unknown - preparing for and learning from health system shocks

Healthcare is vital for the functioning of modern societies. It is connected to the dynamics of a society’s vulnerability and can thus be considered an essential part of critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure, with its interdependencies and the resulting uncertainties, makes learning and preparation particularly challenging. Thus, the ways in which health systems make sense of past events and translate lessons learned into better capacity to face various ordeals in the future is of particular interest in this study. This chapter focuses on ways to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future shocks within the context of Finland’s health system. We present findings from interviews conducted with senior leaders in the Finnish health system and reflect on them with an understanding drawn from the literature on critical infrastructure. Our core argument is that while learning from the past may enhance preparedness and systems’ resilience, it can also become a source of systemic vulnerability. Therefore, the paper will offer future avenues of inquiry for those interested in health systems’ preparedness, critical infrastructure, and resilience.