Flexibility in committing activity resources Dr. Barbara Barker is the head of LO 1, 2, 3 the pathology laboratory at Barrington Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama.

Dr. Barker estimates the amount of work for her laboratory staff by classifying the pathology tests into three categories: simple routine, simple nonroutine, and complex. She expects a simple-routine test to require two hours, a simple nonroutine test to require 2.5 hours, and a complex test to require four hours of staff time. She estimates the demand for each of the three types of tests for June through August to be the following:

Laboratory staff salaries including fringe benefits average $3600 per month. Each worker works 150 hours per month. If the hospital work load ex¬ ceeds the available staff time, Dr. Barker has the tests performed at a neigh¬ boring private pathology laboratory that charges $80 for a simple-routine test, $100 for a simple-nonroutine test, and $160 for a complex test.
Dr. Barker is thinking of employing 20 to 27 workers. Because of the diffi¬ culty in hiring reliable workers, Barrington's chief administrator has instructed her to employ laboratory staff for at least one quarter.
REQUIRED

(a) Determine how many workers Dr. Barker should employ to minimize the costs of performing the tests. What is the minimum cost?

(b) Suppose the easy availability of experienced laboratory staff allows Bar¬ rington Medical Center to change staffing loads each month. Determine the number of workers Dr. Barker should hire each month in these cir¬ cumstances. What is the minimum cost?

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SIMPLE SIMPLE MONTH ROUTINE NONROUTINE COMPLEX June 800 250 450 July 600 200 400 August 750 225 450