Civilian-military pooling of health care resources in Haiti: a theory of complementarities perspective

Abstract

The 2010 Haiti earthquake brought attention to the global need for rapid deployment of disaster relief health care services. In such large-scale disasters, a variety of international organisations provide temporary services until the damaged local health care system recovers. However, the disaster environment can pose operational and temporal challenges that may impede the effectiveness of relief services, and research is needed to provide both theory and methods for improving coordination and collaboration among relief organisations. This study investigates opportunities and barriers for relief organisations to pool complementary resources originating from multiple countries, by examining five case studies that represent the breadth of organizational types, including charter (civilian, military, university-affiliated and public/private), facility type (primary, secondary, and tertiary care), and duration of stay. The study yields a set of research propositions that chart avenues for future studies in this emerging field of research at the intersection of health care humanitarian operations and organisation theory.

Keywords:

• military–civil interface
• theory of complementarities
• disaster relief operations
• health care humanitarian service
• case study

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Dr. Zeynab Masoudnia for the assistance in conducting this research study during her Ph.D. studies in the department of Economics at George Mason University, and to Dr. Efraim Laor for his constructive feedback.