Healthcare Facilities Redesign Using Multicriteria Decision-Making: Fuzzy TOPSIS and Graph Heuristic Theories

Dear Mr. Hassansain and colleagues.

I read with great interest your paper since for me it is a new approach regarding hospitals, that I had not seen addressed before.

I read it twice, and indeed I am not yet convinced that I understood it. I guess that the purpose is to determine the ranking of the 10 hospitals with data from Table 6; using the scores and the adjacency matrix you determine a closeness index, and from it a ranking.

In reality, if you have the scores for each hospital, you can deduct their closeness, however, I believe that perhaps I did not understand your problem very well.

The reason for my confusion and possibly also for other readers, is that you assume that they know about REL, adjacency matrix, as well as the meaning of the letters you put in Table 8 and others. I would recommend to explain briefly what is an adjacency matrix and what it represents.

1- You say it very clearly that you want to analyze scientifically the layout in each hospital and determine a method to qualify them. My question is: Regarding to what? You don’t say it. Is it regarding efficiency, space, avoiding spread of diseases, or what?

2- In the abstract you mention hospitals with letter D and other with letter I. Where do you apply them, since I have not seen them in the text?

3- In page 3, you state “The method V-COMET (V-Characteristic Objects Method) is characterized by high accuracy and has very limited computational complexity. It delivers two solutions to the same problem using the same data but two different procedures; because both solutions normally coincide, this agreement provides a high level of reliability. The model not only delivers solutions but also informs on aspects that are related to the selection achieved. Te method mixes human knowledge, expertise, and know-how with a scientific approach, giving the decision-maker a solid foundation for his/ her final decision [24, 28].”

First, I wonder how you can assert that the V-COMET method has high accuracy, since you have nothing to compare its result to.

Notwithstanding, I understand that you made an involuntary mistake. As far as I know, the only method that fulfils your appreciation is SIMUS, and I did not know that V-COMET also shares those concepts. Naturally, this method can’t assume, for the same reason, that the final result is accurate.

By the way, your references regarding this point as (24) and (28) are incorrect. The current reference is (27).

4- You also say in page 6 “For this part, the most suitable algorithm is the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS)”

I am afraid that I don’t concur with this. There are several MCDM methods that are excellent and that possibly surpass TOPSIS, which, without a doubt, is one of the best. Inclusive some of them don’t generate rank reversal, like SPOTIS and SIMUS, while TOPSIS does.

5- In Table 8, what are the areas like 4, 7, 12, 14………………? Where they come from?

6- In Figure 6 you depict 3 operating rooms when originally there were 4. Could you explain it?

I hope that my comments can be useful.

Regards

Nolberto Munier