Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to effectively manage hospital resources: ICU beds and ventilators. These resources are significant for sustaining life, especially in severe cases. Traditional deterministic models often fall short in addressing the uncertainties associated with patie...

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Main Authors: Yewande Ojo, John Ogbemhe, Oluwabukunmi Victor Babatunde, Subomi Okeowo, Olubayo Babatunde, John Adebisi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: College of Engineering of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, Nigeria 2025-05-01
Series:ABUAD Journal of Engineering Research and Development
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Online Access:https://journals.abuad.edu.ng/index.php/ajerd/article/view/1058
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author Yewande Ojo
John Ogbemhe
Oluwabukunmi Victor Babatunde
Subomi Okeowo
Olubayo Babatunde
John Adebisi
author_facet Yewande Ojo
John Ogbemhe
Oluwabukunmi Victor Babatunde
Subomi Okeowo
Olubayo Babatunde
John Adebisi
author_sort Yewande Ojo
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to effectively manage hospital resources: ICU beds and ventilators. These resources are significant for sustaining life, especially in severe cases. Traditional deterministic models often fall short in addressing the uncertainties associated with patient inflows and resource availability.  This paper develops a novel two-stage stochastic programming model which aims to dynamically allocate resources to deal with the variability of inpatient admissions. To this end, the scenarios are developed using Monte Carlo simulation based on the probabilities estimated from the historical data. The model is created in Python language and solved using the Gurobi optimizer in 0.05s, a large-scale scenario optimization analysis problem with 42 variables and 35 constraints. The KPIs show the highest utilization of ventilators at 66. 67% and the average reduction of 53.5 in the number of offers an ICU practical shortfall leading to better patient care and shorter wait times. This research presents a data-driven tool to enhance the decision-making process and the healthcare system's overall readiness to maintain its strategic reserves by implementing flexible staffing models to improve preparation for disasters such as the pandemic. Its stochastic optimization framework makes hospital resource allocation more efficient, offering a scalable, resilient solution for tackling future pandemic challenges.
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language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher College of Engineering of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, Nigeria
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spelling doaj-art-e9f4530299404d68ad0014e1d03304512025-08-20T02:58:55ZengCollege of Engineering of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, NigeriaABUAD Journal of Engineering Research and Development2756-68112645-26852025-05-018210.53982/ajerd.2025.0802.04-jDynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic OptimizationYewande Ojo0John Ogbemhe1Oluwabukunmi Victor Babatunde2Subomi Okeowo3Olubayo Babatunde4John Adebisi5Department of Communications Management, University of DenverDepartment of Systems Engineering, University of Lagos, NigeriaDepartment of Industrial Design, Federal University of Technology, Akure, NigeriaCollege of Arts, Media and Design, Northeastern University, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering, University of Lagos, NigeriaDivision of Engineering & Technology, The University of West Alabama, Livingston, AL 35470, USA The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to effectively manage hospital resources: ICU beds and ventilators. These resources are significant for sustaining life, especially in severe cases. Traditional deterministic models often fall short in addressing the uncertainties associated with patient inflows and resource availability.  This paper develops a novel two-stage stochastic programming model which aims to dynamically allocate resources to deal with the variability of inpatient admissions. To this end, the scenarios are developed using Monte Carlo simulation based on the probabilities estimated from the historical data. The model is created in Python language and solved using the Gurobi optimizer in 0.05s, a large-scale scenario optimization analysis problem with 42 variables and 35 constraints. The KPIs show the highest utilization of ventilators at 66. 67% and the average reduction of 53.5 in the number of offers an ICU practical shortfall leading to better patient care and shorter wait times. This research presents a data-driven tool to enhance the decision-making process and the healthcare system's overall readiness to maintain its strategic reserves by implementing flexible staffing models to improve preparation for disasters such as the pandemic. Its stochastic optimization framework makes hospital resource allocation more efficient, offering a scalable, resilient solution for tackling future pandemic challenges. https://journals.abuad.edu.ng/index.php/ajerd/article/view/1058Stochastic Programming, Hospital Resource AllocationPandemic PreparednessMonte Carlo SimulationGurobi OptimizerResource Utilization
spellingShingle Yewande Ojo
John Ogbemhe
Oluwabukunmi Victor Babatunde
Subomi Okeowo
Olubayo Babatunde
John Adebisi
Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
ABUAD Journal of Engineering Research and Development
Stochastic Programming
, Hospital Resource Allocation
Pandemic Preparedness
Monte Carlo Simulation
Gurobi Optimizer
Resource Utilization
title Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
title_full Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
title_fullStr Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
title_full_unstemmed Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
title_short Dynamic Hospital Resource Scheduling During Pandemics with Stochastic Optimization
title_sort dynamic hospital resource scheduling during pandemics with stochastic optimization
topic Stochastic Programming
, Hospital Resource Allocation
Pandemic Preparedness
Monte Carlo Simulation
Gurobi Optimizer
Resource Utilization
url https://journals.abuad.edu.ng/index.php/ajerd/article/view/1058
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AT subomiokeowo dynamichospitalresourceschedulingduringpandemicswithstochasticoptimization
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