Increasing Hospital Capacity Using Existing Resources to Improve Patient Flow Management

Abstract

It's not just about the snowbirds anymore. Located in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States, the University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson, AZ. has been feeling the pain of the area's rapid population growth. And that pain has gone from acute to chronic. It used to be that things began to get busy at UMC in November when retirees from northern states came to Tucson for the winter. But then by May, things settled down and staff members could relax a little. But not anymore. The population of the Tucson Metropolitan Area grew a whopping 22% in just 8 years, from 843,746 in 2000 to an estimated 1,032,078 by February 2008. The area's population is expected to increase by more than one-third over the next 20 years, with much of the growth due to people of working age moving into the area for employment.