Designing a clustering algorithm for optimizing health station locations

In this paper, we define the optimization of health station locations as a clustering problem. We design a robust algorithm for the problem using a pre-calculated overhead graph for fast distance calculations and apply a robust clustering algorithm called random swap to provide accurate optimization results. We study the effect of three cost functions (Euclidean distance, squared Euclidean distance, travel cost) using real patient locations in North Karelia, Finland. We compare the optimization results with the existing health station locations. We found that the algorithm optimized the locations beyond administrative borders and strongly utilized the transport network. The results can provide additional insight for the decision-makers.