Impact of Post COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Administration and Services Delivery in Nigeria

Background : The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted healthcare administration and service delivery worldwide, particularly in Nigeria. The post pandemic strained healthcare administration and services delivery, leading led to long-term changes in healthcare systems. Aims & Objectives: The primary goal of this study is to examine the impact of post COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare administration and services delivery in Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 healthcare professionals across Nigeria using an online questionnaire for data collection. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Version 27 software. The Pearson chi-square test was used to examine the association between healthcare facility types and the impact of post-COVID-19 on healthcare administration and services delivery. Results: The study included 50 respondents with 38% were aged 26-35 years, 54% were female, and 44% earned over 111,000 naira. 80% reported that the post-COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted healthcare facility capacity, with 76% noting adverse effects on administration and service delivery. Significantly, 90% of healthcare providers faced physical challenges, while 94% reported psychological challenges. Additionally, 80% of the respondents indicated disruptions in routine healthcare administration and services delivery, 64% of the healthcare organizations adopted mitigation strategies, with 84% perceiving these as effective in ensuring continued administration and services delivery. The Pearson chi-square analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between healthcare facility type and the overall impact of the post-COVID-19 pandemic on overall healthcare facility capacity (p<0.000), healthcare administration and service delivery (p<0.000), physical (p<0.000) and psychological (p<0.001) challenges faced by healthcare provider, key disruption in routine healthcare administration and services delivery (p<0.000), its impact on access to health services (p<0.011), strategies implemented to combat the post pandemic effect (p<0.002). Conclusion: The study underscores the profound effects of the post-COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare administration and services delivery in Nigeria, highlighting challenges that must be addressed to improve system resilience and efficiency.