Optimizing resilience in hospital networks: Site selection criteria for enhancing health-care infrastructure

Purpose – This study aims to address the challenges in evaluating and enhancing health-care infrastructure resilience during the design and preconstruction phases. By presenting a novel approach based on Monte Carlo simulation to facilitate this process. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a Monte Carlo simulation-based simulation aims to enhance the resilience of infrastructural systems against natural disasters in the context of locating new hospital infrastructural. This approach analyzes the vulnerability of the transportation network based on the OpenStreetMap network graph and uses Monte Carlo simulation to assess damage to the network and its impact on the hospital infrastructure network. It evaluates resilience based on the proposed location optimization framework. Findings – The results demonstrate the model's capability to effectively assess the impact of natural disasters on infrastructure networks across various scenarios. This approach enables designers to make more informed decisions about resilience characteristics during the crucial design and preconstruction phases. The research underscores the importance of incorporating resilience evaluation early in the project lifecycle and illustrates how the proposed model can facilitate this process, potentially leading to more resilient infrastructure designs. Originality/value – It focuses on the application of Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate resilience during the feasibility study phase, a stage often overlooked in resilience planning. The findings underscore the potential of guiding designers toward improving project resilience, supporting them in selecting options favorable to network resilience.