A location-allocation approach to health care facility location: A study of the undoctored population in Lansing, Michigan

Abstract

Based on the distribution of undoctored household members reported in a mail-out survey, a heuristic location-allocation algorithm was used to determine facility locations and associated user allocations for primary care health centers being established in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Beyond simply identifying desirable health care center locations, the analyses showed that four facilities, rather than the originally proposed five, would yield more tenable and equitable utilization levels. The allocation results also indicated a preferable sequence for facility development based on differences in expected utilization. Subsequent location-allocation analyses based on expected future health services need did not appreciably affect the locational findings.