Book excerpt: The COVID-19 Disruption and the Global Health Dilemma provides an historical accounting of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic through the eyes of the largest pubic health system in the United States, one that served the hardest hit neighborhoods in New York City. The book offers a roadmap to guide healthcare systems and their providers in the event of future pandemics. Readers will learn from healthcare providers at the epicenter of the pandemic in New York City about surge staffing and level loading, along with tips from the ED and ICUs on how to respond to an unprecedented influx of inpatients. - Clarifies the scientific knowledge around COVID-19 - Provides a multidisciplinary analysis involving biology, economics, epidemiology, medicine, and statistics relating to COVID-19 - Focuses on the need to invest and develop the bioeconomy as the basis of a new global and integrated health system, pulling together conservation, resource economics, and preventive and curative medicine