Resilient Purchasing Strategy in Healthcare: A Public Hospital Case Study

Thesis Abstract

Global health supply chains face increasing exposure to disruptions, with public hospitals in high-demand settings experiencing cascading effects on patient care, procurement costs, and service continuity. This study investigates how a resilient purchasing strategy can be developed and operationalized within a public hospital to mitigate procurement risks, ensure continuity of essential medical supplies, and optimize total cost of ownership. The aim is to design a context-specific framework for resilience in hospital purchasing, with objectives to (1) diagnose current procurement vulnerabilities and disruption response capabilities, (2) identify supply network characteristics that enhance resilience, (3) evaluate the impact of strategic sourcing, supplier collaboration, and inventory policies on service continuity, and (4) propose an implementable governance and measurement framework for resilience in purchasing. The research adopts a mixed-methods design grounded in the Resource-Based View and the Supply Chain Resilience theory. The population comprises procurement professionals, clinicians, and supply chain managers at a mid-sized public teaching hospital in a metropolitan region. A purposive sample of 60 respondents for surveys and 20 in-depth interviews with senior purchasers, materials managers, and department heads will be complemented by hospital-wide archival data on stockouts, procurement lead times, and supplier performance spanning five fiscal years. Quantitative data will be analyzed using regression analysis to assess the relationship between resilience-oriented purchasing practices (e.g., supplier redundancy, dual sourcing, safety stock adjustments, and collaborative planning) and service continuity measures (stockouts, backorders, and patient wait times). Descriptive statistics and time-series analysis will illuminate trend patterns, while structural equation modeling will test the proposed pathways among capabilities, governance mechanisms, and outcomes. Qualitative data from interviews will undergo thematic analysis to capture contextual factors, managerial rationales, and experiential barriers to implementation, with cross-case triangulation to corroborate findings. The study will also apply a multi-criteria decision analysis to compare alternative purchasing configurations against resilience criteria, and a scenario-based stress-testing approach to quantify recovery time objectives under simulated disruption events. Expected findings indicate that resilience is driven by a portfolio approach to supplier relationships, enhanced information sharing, and adaptive inventory policies aligned with clinical demand signals. Specifically, the study anticipates that supplier collaboration and transparent governance structures will reduce stockouts by 20–35% during disruptions, while dual sourcing and dynamic safety stock will mitigate lead-time variability and preserve patient access to critical items. The contribution to knowledge includes (i) a contextually grounded framework for resilient purchasing in public healthcare, integrating RBV and Supply Chain Resilience constructs with hospital-specific operational realities; (ii) empirical insights into how procurement practices translate into service continuity, cost management, and clinical outcomes; and (iii) a practical measurement toolkit for ongoing resilience assessment in hospital procurement. The study concludes that resilient purchasing in healthcare requires deliberate alignment of strategic sourcing, supplier collaboration, and dynamic inventory governance with clinical demand management, supported by clear accountability and data-sharing protocols. Recommendations include implementing a formal resilience governance charter, establishing supplier development programs with performance-based incentives, adopting digital procurement platforms for real-time demand visibility, and continuously refining stock policy parameters through iterative reviews and scenario planning. The research advances knowledge on how public hospitals can operationalize resilience in purchasing to sustain patient care under diverse disruption regimes, offering a transferable blueprint for similar healthcare institutions facing supply chain volatility.