Staffing a Pandemic Urgent Care facility during an outbreak of pandemic influenza

A simulation of an influenza pandemic is analyzed for the greater Ann Arbor, Michigan region. Focus is placed on a Pandemic Urgent Care center (PUC), where patients of mild and moderate severity are treated. The number of registration assistants, doctors, and nurses to staff as well as the amount of capacity to add to the PUC and adjoining infusion clinic is analyzed for different attack rates. Focus is placed on the peak day of the pandemic, and patients arrive on that day according to an empirical distribution from emergency department arrival data. ProModel is used to evaluate the system and perform sensitivity analysis. The analysis finds that the optimal staffing levels to keep average patient waiting times at a reasonable level is dependent on the attack rate and the daily interarrival rate of patients, and that more staff is needed when arrival patterns have increased variability.