Article ID: | iaor19962119 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 3 |
Issue: | 4 |
Start Page Number: | 255 |
End Page Number: | 266 |
Publication Date: | Dec 1995 |
Journal: | Location Science |
Authors: | Mehrez Abraham, Sinuany-Stern Zilla, Tal Arad-Geva, Shemuel Binyamin |
Keywords: | decision theory: multiple criteria, location, analytic hierarchy process |
This paper reports on the strategic planning of hospital services in the Negev region of Israel, a sparsely populated region experiencing rapid population growth. One of the questions that concerned the decision-makers was whether to increase the medical services in the area by expanding the existing hospital or by building an additional one. The suggestion to build a new hospital raised questions of location. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem. Objective and subjective approaches were amployed in a three-stage procedure in order to find the best location. First the problem was analyzed using established location models to generate a set of candidate locations. In the next stages experts evaluated the alternative locations by employing a subjective multicriteria model-the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Finally, a recommended solution was presented and analyzed in light of the strategic plan.