An Optimization Model for Scheduling Additional Medical Personnel During a Pandemic

Abstract

The most severe and pervasive problems in modern healthcare systems occur during epidemics and pandemics. One of these problems is the reassignment and the rescheduling of the medical staff during the days of the critical weeks with a high number of infected patients, which, at the same time, amplifies the need for hiring additional medical staff. In this paper we are addressing the problem of the number of additional nurses that must be hired as part time workers, with the following objective: to satisfy the minimum number of nurses needed during the days of the critical weeks, while keeping the hospital costs as low as possible. The solution of this problem is obtained by a schedule of the additional personal based on four, partially overlapping shifts, which gave a reduction of the initial costs. It can be applied in any organization that is in need for additional staff, regardless of the reason.