OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

CASE 1 – Shouldice Hospital

Introduction Shouldice Hospital, set up in 1945 by Dr. Earl Shouldice, is located near Toronto. It follows the business model of focus on a single standardised service for a narrow target of consumers, rather than to provide customised solution (as in a general clinic or hospital). It focuses on providing quick, convenient, and reliable cure for external types of abdominal hernias. The Hospital uses its own technique, called the Shouldice Method. It is famous for a relatively short post-operative recovery period.

Description
1. Shouldice Hospital provides low-cost medical service in its area of specialization. Use of the Shouldice Method allows patients to recuperate fast
Number of beds =89+28 (14 waiting rooms) = 117

Therefore:
Maximum capacity of day 1 = Maximum no. of operations = 152
Total capacity = 607

Note:
• Day 0 indicates the day of admission to the patient and day 1 is the day of operation
• No patients can be admitted on Friday and Saturday, since operations are not performed on Saturday and Sunday
• Maximum capacity of beds = 117

Max number of patients intake on Tuesday = 19 (if more are taken, there wont be any bed left for them on Wednesday)
More patients can be taken on Wednesday, since patients admitted on Sunday will be discharged on Thursday, and so beds shall be available for them the next day.

3. Number of surgeon-hours available = 8*7 = 56
Considering 1 recurrent (90 min) and 3 normal