A Java class library for simulating peri-operative processes

To address the mismatch between supply and demand for peri-operative capacity, senior management of the Department of Surgical Services at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital in Montreal designed and developed a discrete event simulation platform for modeling its peri-operative processes. Design goals included ensuring that the platform could be used for both long-term capacity planning and short-term scheduling, that it could be readily modified and extended, that it be comprehensive and fast, that it have a multi-level 2D animation capability, that it reuse software components, and that it could be embedded into other software. The primary outcomes achieved were the development of a Java class library to support the development of peri-operative process simulation models, and a preliminary model, built with the class library, that is currently being used to help understand the need for surgical beds.