Frank Zilm, DArch, FAIA Frank Zilm & Associates, Inc.

Over the past 30 years, computer simulation of healthcare facilities has been demonstrated as a useful though daunting tool for evaluating programs and plans. Many packages offer sophisticated capabilities but also require extensive training and equally significant installation and maintenance budgets. Newer generations of software packages hold the promise for inexpensive, user-oriented tools. The planning of a major Heart Center for the Cleveland Clinic provided an opportunity to test low-cost simulation techniques in the analysis of holding beds for a combined heart surgery, cardiac catheterization, and electrophysiology lab service. Although effective, the software provided performance challenges. The search for a quick, cheap modeling technique appears to have hidden costs.

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