Column-generation-based heuristic approaches to stochastic surgery scheduling with downstream capacity constraints

This paper addresses an advance surgery scheduling problem in an operating theater composed of multiple operating rooms (ORs) and a downstream surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Uncertainties in surgery durations and postoperative length-of-stays are taken into consideration. The decisions are made on a weekly basis and consist of three parts: determining the surgical blocks to open, selecting the surgeries to be performed from a waiting list,...