Service Management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology 8th Edition by James Fitzsimmons,Mona Fitzsimmons,Sanjeev Bordoloi

Exercise 20

In January 2012, Joan Taylor, the administrator of the Life-Time Insurance Company HMO in Buffalo, New York, was pleased with the Austin, Texas, location that was selected for a new ambulatory health center. (The process used to select this site is discussed in Chapter 8, Service Facility Location.) The center not only would serve as a clinic for the acutely ill but also as a center for preventive health services.
An important goal of the HMO was to offer programs that would encourage members to stay healthy. Various programs already had been planned, including those on smoking cessation, proper nutrition, diet, and exercise.
The clinic portion of the health center would be quite large; however, certain constraints in the layout would be necessary. Acutely ill patients would need to be separated from well patients. In addition, federal safety regulations prohibited the radiography department from being adjacent to the main waiting room.
It was very important to Ms. Taylor to minimize the walking distance for both the patients and the HMO personnel. The matrix below provides the expected flow between departments based on 35 patients per day.
Defend your final layout based on features other than minimizing walking distance.