‘Dr. Ziggy' calls for changes to improve outcomes for inevitable next pandemic Zigmond Kozicki is an associate professor of health administration at University of Detroit Mercy. UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY: As the COVID-19 pandemic began to fill hospitals in early April 2020 and local health departments were tasked with contact tracing outbreaks to minimize community spread, health administration associate professor Zigmond Kozicki wanted to know if the mobilized health organizations were prepared for what he believed was a 100-year population health event. As the months dragged on and casualties mounted, it became clear that problems with resources and coordination slowed the response. Kozicki felt research was needed to gather the baseline information necessary to come up with a new strategy to improve outcomes for what he believes could be an even worse next pandemic.