Staffing Models for Blood Donation Centres: A Model-Driven Approach

Abstract

Building on the work conducted by Blake & Shimla (2014), the model presented by this project generates staff schedules based on the minimum staffing requirements for donation clinics operated by Canadian Blood Services (CBS). The proposed design is comprised of two integer programming models and uses a simplified column generation algorithm. Based on the targets set by the user, the first model selects an optimal configuration of clinic length and bed count. These values are then fed into the second model, which assigns shifts based on the calculated requirements. When compared to schedules generated by the client, the model was able to produce solutions of similar or higher quality while also minimizing the operational costs of the clinics. Beyond optimizing clinic scheduling for CBS, this framework can be adapted and applied to other areas within the healthcare industry.