Hospitals in Health Systems : Opportunities for Efficient, High-quality, and Integrated Care

Improving global health outcomes amidst fiscal constraints, climate crises, and pandemics is a formidable challenge for governments worldwide. The recently published WHO/World Bank 2023 UHC Global Monitoring Report underscores a concerning reality: despite the goal of universal health coverage (UHC), over half of the global population, over 4.5 billion people, lacks full access to quality health care. This pervasive lack of access is coupled with significant financial hardship, with over 1 billion people facing catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending, and nearly 17 percent of the global population pushed into poverty due to health care costs (WHO andThe World Bank 2023)