ORAHS2025
Abstract Submission

234. Optimising Department Allocation in Hospital Layouts

Invited abstract in session TA-3: Location and logistics, stream Sessions.

Tuesday, 9:00-10:30
Room: NTNU, Realfagbygget R9

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Allan Larsen
Department of Management, Technology and Economics, Technical University of Denmark
2. Gaspard Hosteins
Department of Management, Technology and Economics, Technical University of Denmark
3. David Ajit Kirpekar-Sauer
4. Dario Pacino
Department of Management, Technology and Economics, Technical University of Denmark

Abstract

Patient arrivals in hospitals exhibit significant variability, requiring efficient positioning of departments to optimize room usage. This study proposes a novel approach to the Hospital Layout Problem (HLP) in the context of fully flexible nursing room setups. By strategically placing department centres and using the flexibility of nursing rooms, our method dynamically accommodates patients close to the centres, accounting for the departments’ variability. To achieve an efficient layout, we develop a Hybrid TABU Search and simulation methodology that prioritizes compact and connected departments, minimizing cross-departmental movement. Incorporating a graph-based formulation of the HLP and a novel quantitative assessment method, we evaluate patient misplacement within flexible layouts. This research optimizes room usage and addresses the complexities of modern healthcare environments. It emphasizes the importance of nursing ward layouts for enhancing operational efficiency and offers a practical methodology for efficient layout design and performance evaluation. In a newly constructed Danish hospital, our approach successfully reduces patient misplacement disruptions over 45% compared to an initial benchmark developed by the hospital management.

Keywords

Status: accepted


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