Robust Design of Preventive Healthcare Facility Networks

Preventive healthcare services aim at reducing the likelihood and severity of life-threatening illnesses through early detection and prevention. In order for such services to be effective, the preventive healthcare facilities should be easily accessible. Factors that impact the accessibility include the number, type, and location of the facilities as well as the assignment of the clients to these facilities. In this project, we will develop a mathematical model that simultaneously determines the location of facilities along with their capacity levels and their assigned population zones so as to minimize the sum of the expected travel and waiting time (i.e. maximize the systems accessibility). Moreover, the proposed model aims to hedge against demand and travel time uncertainty through a robust optimization approach. The proposed methodology will help designing healthcare facilities across Canada by developing optimal policy decisions about their location and capacities.

Faculty Supervisor:

ONUR KUZGUNKAYA

Student:

Ricardo Huerta

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Globalink