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Article
Using Facility-Location Models to Optimally Locate Hierarchical Community-based Health Facilities in Davao City
Acta Medica Philippina (2009)
  • Myra E Silva
  • Michael P Johnson, Jr., University of Massachusetts Boston
Abstract
Alternative hierarchical location-allocation models are used to locate two types of community-based health facilities in Davao City relative to population locations. Accounting for factors such as politics and resource availability, different optimization approaches were implemented to locate a mix of health centers and nutrition posts across the rural and urban areas of the city. The results were evaluated based on operating costs, average travel distance and population coverage. Computational results revealed that, by optimally locating barangay health centers and health posts, the current level of public investment in the health delivery infrastructure can be sufficient to cover a significant proportion of the population and at the same time, reduce the travel distance to these facilities. Greater cost savings could be generated when the network of facilities with a fewer number of facilities is located since the over-all operating costs are reduced. Significant policy insight that can be derived from this study is that public investments are more effective and efficient when community-based health facilities are optimally located.
Keywords
  • health facilities,
  • linear programming,
  • location-allocation model
Publication Date
2009
Citation Information
Myra E Silva and Michael P Johnson. "Using Facility-Location Models to Optimally Locate Hierarchical Community-based Health Facilities in Davao City" Acta Medica Philippina Vol. 43 Iss. 3 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael_johnson/9/