Strategic Location Modeling for Mobile Clinics in Rural Areas in South Africa

Abstract

Location models have proved to be invaluable in solving complex optimization problems across various industries worldwide. The application of location theory to the healthcare industry has recently become very popular in areas such as emergency services i.e. ambulances, location of hospitals, routing of ambulances to emergency scenes, etc. These applications are mostly carried out in urban areas. In South Africa, there is a unique demand for the delivery of healthcare services in rural areas where resources are limited. Therefore it holds merit to investigate the application of location theory in rural areas and increase the service delivery to less fortunate citizens of South Africa. This project aims to address the improvement of healthcare services in rural areas by utilizing location theory to find strategic locations for mobile clinics to be stationed. Mathematical models and heuristics are used to evaluate the performance of the solutions.