Introduction:

The quality of medical care is directly related to the appropriate work environment and the satisfaction of the health staff. With the appearance of COVID-19, the work environment in health institutions has worsened.

Objective:

To identify the factors that influence the work environment of the public and private health institutions of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador, during the period June-August 2021.

Method:

Implementation of a study with a quantitative approach of correlational scope and transectional design in 349 health workers, to whom a 25-questions questionnaire was applied, that measured factors such as: contagion risk, working hours, medical resources and job stability. The results of the study were statistically analyzed through SPPS 20 and AMOS 24, with the previous development of Cronbach's alpha.

Results:

94% of the participants considered the work environment of their institutions as inappropriate, while 6% said they did not. Females, and ages ranging between 22-35 years predominated. All the variables of the hypothesized model exceeded 0.70 and the total Cronbach's alpha reached 0.728; the hypothesized model met the convergent and discriminant validity of the variables. The risk of contagion yielded a value of β=0.148, while the working day resulted with β=0.010, medical resources β=0.006 and job stability β=0.007.

Conclusions:

The findings determined that the risk of contagion is the most influential factor in the work environment of the institutions under study during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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