Linear Programming-

A group of administrators is confronted with the need to provide as many hours of clinic care as possible to people coming to their facility. Not only can physicians provide needed patient care, but the administrators also have the option of hiring physician assistants to provide care. The administrators know from long experience that physicians, on average, can see and treat four patients per hour. However, physician assistants, because they have been trained to spend more time with patients and because they perform many tasks that physicians rely on nurses for, will be able to treat only two patients per hour. The administrators have a daily budget for direct patient care salaries independent of nursing services. Their budget allows them to hire either 20 physician hours or 40 physician assistant hours (of course, they can hire a combination of the two). In addition, the clinic has three examining rooms, each of which can practically be used for twelve hours per day. The total hours of patient care time by physicians and physician assistants combined cannot exceed 36 hours per day. Finally, the administrators know that it will be necessary to have a physician at the clinic at least six hours per day, both for the supervision of the physician assistants and because some of the presenting diagnoses cannot reasonably be dealt with by physician assistants.