Critical issues in the management of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: The role of some organizational flaws on the adoption of collaborative governance models

Abstract

In March and April 2020, in Italy, there was a fast and uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. The number of infected people and deaths multiplied quickly; in some regions of the Country the phenomenon got out of control. Intensive Care Units (ICUs) were rapidly saturated by COVID-19 patients, generating pressures on the Regional Health System that forced to the public decisionmakers to suspend all non-emergency services. In this short note we argue that Italy’s inability to contain the outbreak of the epidemic in the first phase was due to the low willingness of public organizations to apply effective collaborative governance models