Pan American Health Organization · 7 May 2020 version
Guidance for health workforce planning, protection, training and deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic for health system managers and HR planners.
- Issuer
- Pan American Health Organization
- Edition
- 7 May 2020 version
- Audience
- Health workforce managers, health system planners, HR departments, facility managers
- Evidence
- Compilation of WHO/PAHO guidance and tools with expert recommendations
- Reviewed
- 19 Oct 2026 · GMJ
What this guideline says
GMJ summary
This PAHO document addresses the critical challenge of managing health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through three priority areas: protecting health personnel, forecasting and mobilising human resources, and strengthening integrated health services networks. It provides practical answers to 18 frequently asked questions on topics ranging from personal protective equipment and infection prevention to workforce surge capacity, task-shifting, and ethical considerations in outbreak response.
The guidance emphasises that effective human resource management allows health systems to respond in a timely manner, improve health care outcomes, rationalise resource use, and reduce staff stress. It directs users to WHO and PAHO technical documents, training courses, and surge planning calculators that help estimate health workforce needs based on epidemic scenarios. The document recommends multiple strategies for addressing staffing shortages, including recruiting retired health workers, repurposing staff from less-affected areas, establishing agreements with the private sector, and accelerating licensing of recent graduates.
Throughout, the guidance stresses the importance of providing health workers with appropriate training, personal protective equipment, mental health support, clear role definitions, and systems for monitoring occupational exposure. It links to specific WHO interim guidance on infection prevention and control, clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection, rational use of PPE, and rights and responsibilities of health workers during infectious disease outbreaks.
Key points
For clinicians — doses and thresholds as stated in the guideline
- Protect all health workers and support staff through infection prevention and control training, appropriate PPE provision, and systematic follow-up of those exposed to COVID-19 patients
- Use WHO surge calculators (Health Workforce Estimator, Adaptt Planning Support Tool, Essential Supplies Forecasting Tool) to estimate staffing needs based on projected moderate, severe and critical patient numbers
- Establish a centralised roster or database of available health workforce by profile, specialty, training status, demographics, location and potential availability to enable rapid deployment
- Consider multiple surge capacity options: recruit from private sector, activate medical reserve corps, deploy recent graduates and final-year students, recall retired health workers, and train volunteers for support tasks
- Implement task-shifting strategies such as training paediatric intensivists to manage adults under supervision, reorienting internists and surgeons for critical COVID-19 care, and reassigning non-frontline specialists to primary care
- Ensure all health workforce receives COVID-19 training on diagnosis, triage, clinical management, and infection prevention and control through online courses (OpenWHO, PAHO Virtual Campus) or designated training facilities
- Provide mental health and psychosocial support to health workers to address stress, burnout and psychological well-being during the outbreak response
- Establish call centres or emergency hotlines staffed by trained health students, professionals or retirees to respond to community questions and provide clinical decision support
From the guideline
Verbatim
“Planning of human resources is essential to ensure preparedness for response, enhance surge capacity, and ensure a sufficient supply of health workers that are more efficient and productive, providing them with the training, protections, rights, recognition, and tools necessary to undertake their roles.”
Editor’s perspective
Why this matters for Georgia and the region
Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, Georgian Medical Journal · Chair, Public Health Institute of Georgia · WHO consultant, health and migration
As someone who has worked extensively on health workforce development in Georgia and the region, I find this PAHO guidance particularly relevant for our context where health worker shortages remain a persistent challenge even outside pandemic conditions. The WHO surge calculators and systematic approach to workforce mapping could significantly strengthen Georgia's pandemic preparedness planning, which currently lacks detailed health workforce contingency plans beyond basic staffing ratios. I would stress to Georgian colleagues the importance of establishing legal frameworks now for temporary licensing, task-shifting and private-public sector agreements before the next crisis, rather than attempting emergency regulations during an outbreak. The main implementation caveat for our region is that many of the surge capacity options—medical reserve corps, robust retired professional databases, established telemedicine platforms—require sustained investment in health workforce information systems and regulatory infrastructure that most South Caucasus countries have not yet prioritised, meaning these strategies cannot be deployed rapidly without advance preparation.
ORCID 0000-0001-7609-4515 · Perspective written for the GMJ Guidelines Library, 19 Oct 2026
Applicability
Georgia and the South Caucasus
For Georgia and the South Caucasus, this guidance remains relevant for pandemic preparedness and health workforce resilience planning beyond COVID-19. The region’s health systems face chronic health workforce shortages, rural-urban maldistribution, and emigration of trained professionals, making surge capacity planning particularly challenging. National programmes should adapt the WHO surge calculators to local epidemiological contexts and workforce data, establish legal frameworks for temporary licensing and task-shifting arrangements, and develop rosters of available health workers including diaspora professionals who might support remotely. The guidance on infection prevention and control, occupational health monitoring, and mental health support for health workers applies equally to seasonal influenza surges, potential future pandemics, and mass casualty events. Georgia’s established primary health care networks and experience with vertical disease programmes (tuberculosis, hepatitis C) provide a foundation for implementing the recommended integrated health services network approach, though coordination mechanisms between public and private sectors would need strengthening.
Questions this guideline answers
Quick answers
What PPE is recommended for health workers during COVID-19?
WHO recommends rational use of PPE based on exposure risk and setting. Medical masks, eye protection, gowns and gloves are needed for direct patient care; more extensive PPE including respirators for aerosol-generating procedures. The WHO guidance on rational use of PPE provides detailed recommendations by care setting and task.
How can we estimate how many additional health workers are needed during a COVID-19 surge?
Use WHO surge calculators: the Health Workforce Estimator calculates numbers needed based on projected moderate, severe and critical patients per day; the Adaptt Surge Planning Support Tool estimates beds required and detailed human resource needs; the Essential Supplies Forecasting Tool provides aggregated workforce requirements. PAHO also offers an estimation tool for hospital beds and health human resources.
What options exist for rapidly increasing health workforce capacity?
Options include: recruiting from private sector through temporary agreements; activating medical reserve corps and military health providers; accelerating licensing of recent graduates; deploying final-year students for support tasks; recalling retired health workers; task-shifting specialists to new roles (e.g., paediatric intensivists managing adults); repurposing non-health government workers for support functions; and establishing telemedicine platforms to extend specialist reach.
How should health workers exposed to COVID-19 patients be managed?
Establish a systematic follow-up and control system using WHO's Health Workers Exposure Risk Assessment tool. This determines infection risk for all health workers exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients in health care facilities and provides recommendations for appropriate management according to risk level, including monitoring, quarantine and testing protocols.
Related on GMJ
Interconnected resources
Dictionary of Public Health
GMJ News coverage
- UK flu and COVID-19 surveillance data to May 2027 shows continued monitoring amid seasonal trendsOct 2026
- Community Health Workers Boost COVID-19 Testing Among Formerly Incarcerated PeopleAug 2026
- Cambridge researchers identify three distinct severe pneumonia subtypes, opening path to personalised treatmentSep 2026
- Sepsis AI Algorithms Fail When Trained on Future Data, Study Reveals Critical FlawsJul 2026
Quality & accreditation
- ASF Hospital — Standard 20 — Supporting the Care Workforce
- ASF Laboratory — Standard 3 — Personnel & Competence
- ASF Hospital — Standard 5 — Safety & Emergency Preparedness
- ASF Medical Transport — Standard 5 — Infection Prevention & Control
- ASF Laboratory — Standard 7 — Examination: Process & Safety
- ASF Hospital — Standard 11 — Critical Care
- ASF Medical Transport — Standard 6 — Emergency Response During Transport
Other guidelines on this topic
- Rehabilitation considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Information and criteria for prioritizing diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 in order to address the procurement needs of health systems
- Environmental Public Health Recommendations for Collective Residential Places: Nursing Homes, Orphanages, and Other Collective Residential Places
- Recommendations for Cleaning and Disinfection Public Places: Supermarkets, Markets, Neighborhood Stores, Banks, Public Transport, and Others
- Requirements and technical specifications of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in healthcare settings
- Issuer
- Pan American Health Organization
- Type
- Procedures, manuals, guidelines
- Edition
- 7 May 2020 version
- Status
- Current
- Published
- 2020-01-01
- Languages
- English
- Scope
- Global, particularly Americas region
- Audience
- Health workforce managers, health system planners, HR departments, facility managers
- Licence
- CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Evidence
- Compilation of WHO/PAHO guidance and tools with expert recommendations
- Record history
- Created 19 Oct 2026 · updated 19 Oct 2026 · next check Apr 2027
Pan American Health Organization. Frequently asked questions for the management of health workers in response to COVID-19, 7 May 2020. Washington, D.C.: PAHO; 2020. (PAHO/HSS/HR/COVID-19/20-0010). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.GMJ Guidelines Library records are original summaries written by the GMJ editorial team from the issuer’s published document and reviewed by a physician. They do not replace the full guideline. The document is the copyright of its issuer and is linked, not hosted. Spotted an error or a newer edition? Tell the Guidelines Desk.
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