(Possible) Bug report: Pharmacy is too small (Hospital Services DLC)

[ModerNertum]

Keeps happening after every time when it’s time to release hospitalized patients. There are just too many being released at once. I tried to expand the Pharmacies but it’s still happening. In case this isn’t a bug could we get some QoL adjustments in this area, please?
Here’s what I propose to fix this:
-A default color warning message telling the player that if they are to release more patients than what their Pharmacies can handle they would then have to buy their medication somewhere else. Should they ignore this warning (by pressing “Ok” or close the pop up window and continue to release their hospitalized patients, then they get the information about their Pharmacies being too small to handle the flow of patients).
-Should the player stop releasing hospitalization patients once this first message appears they should get a reminder they still have patients waiting to be released later (popup window equal to the first one informing the player of the patient’s name/specialization and that the hospitalization is over) once the first wave has bought their medication from the Pharmacies and they are able to service the next wave of released patients.
-This warning should be commutative with clinic patients that need to use the Pharmacy as well so if some are on the way the “timer” to release the next wave of hospitalization patients would be delayed until the Pharmacies have capacity to service them again.
-This QoL improvements are suggested after playtesting. The only way right now to micromanage the situation is a complicated system of releasing a first wave then checking all your departments and release the other waves once you feel your Pharmacies should be done servicing the early release patients.
-Adding more set “hard” release timers for hospitalized patients to the pool not only be a realistic game mechanic (personally I was released from EDs as far as 2 AM in the morning before, for example) or the rush hour (6 PM traditionallly) but also be a QoL improvement for the player to better handle the patient flow. The player should get a chance to recover before realising why their hospital is losing so much money (Pharmacies are a great income source in the Hospital Services DLC).
-For context purpose I believe the “soft” release timers are absolutely fine. The “hard” release timers are what I think may be bugged/not fine tuned/could be improved upon.

“hard” release timer=Typically this is at 8 AM in vanilla game. It’s a time where most hospitalization patients are being released at once. This is what I feel might be bugged/needs QoL improvement.
“soft” release timers=Refers to any time a few patients are getting discharged (typically low priority OBS cases/Clinic Outpatients. This is the part I believe is fine in game.

I hope this gets a patch to improve QoL with the next game update. Thank you 🙏

[akuuliala]

Or instead of this highly complicated scheme we could just hire enough pharmacists to deal with the patients.

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by akuuliala:

Or instead of this highly complicated scheme we could just hire enough pharmacists to deal with the patients.

As I said in OP, I recently expanded my Pharmacies. The patient flow is tied to chairs available (not how much staff is hired). This is because the staff will always fill needs anyway so having 30 Pharmacists in a Pharmacy at the same time is a huge money sink. I have no more room left to further expand my Pharmacies now (I don’t use mods). This was again playtested. I did not hire new staff, just upgraded the number of available chairs. I’m still making money, despite the complicated system. That’s why I said this needs a QoL update for a future patch.

[akuuliala]

So how many chairs and how many pharmacists do you have? My standard pharmacy is 16 by 6 blocks. I put in equipment for 4 pharmacists and maybe fit in couple of dozed chairs. Such a setup works ok, there may be occasional "too small" warnings. I don't use mods either and don't see what it has to do with pharmacies. Consider also that as you noted the pharmacists need to fill their needs so have facilities available for that nearby. I still think you are making this far too complicated.

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by akuuliala:

So how many chairs and how many pharmacists do you have? My standard pharmacy is 16 by 6 blocks. I put in equipment for 4 pharmacists and maybe fit in couple of dozed chairs. Such a setup works ok, there may be occasional "too small" warnings. I don't use mods either and don't see what it has to do with pharmacies. Consider also that as you noted the pharmacists need to fill their needs so have facilities available for that nearby. I still think you are making this far too complicated.

21 chairs total across 2 pharmacies. I currently have employed around 10 Pharmacists for both shifts (totaling around 20 employees of my total employee count).

[jirka_oxymoron]

Originally posted by ModerNertum:

21 chairs total across 2 pharmacies. I currently have employed around 10 Pharmacists for both shifts (totaling around 20 employees of my total employee count).

Hi, till now we have considered the Pharmacy's capability to dispatch customers as sufficient. Would you please send us a save to [e-mail] so we can look at your hospital? Maybe it will help us to see it through your eyes.

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by jirka_oxymoron:

Originally posted by ModerNertum:

21 chairs total across 2 pharmacies. I currently have employed around 10 Pharmacists for both shifts (totaling around 20 employees of my total employee count).

Hi, till now we have considered the Pharmacy's capability to dispatch customers as sufficient. Would you please send us a save to [e-mail] so we can look at your hospital? Maybe it will help us to see it through your eyes.

Of course. Does the game have a Discord server? I don’t use mods if that helps. I have 2 Pharmacies in my hospital so that might be the issue.

[jirka_oxymoron]

Hello, the absence of the mods in a save is always a bonus as it is not an easy task to debug a modified game. We don't have a discord server for Project Hospital but if you prefer a different method of sharing the save (than via the mail) we can figure out something else.

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by jirka_oxymoron:

Hello, the absence of the mods in a save is always a bonus as it is not an easy task to debug a modified game. We don't have a discord server for Project Hospital but if you prefer a different method of sharing the save (than via the mail) we can figure out something else.

No, e-mail is fine. Is that the correct address?
[e-mail]

PS: I sent the email already to the address provided. I hope you can figure what is wrong through my eyes.

[jirka_oxymoron]

Hello, sorry for the late answer, and also thank you for the save file. The cause of the Pharmacy is too small warning is the smaller (only by size but not by employee count) pharmacy on the second floor. When the patients are released from the hospitalizations the game mechanism checks the number of vacant tiles in the pharmacy (both the chairs and also the empty space where the patients can stand). If there is not enough vacant space all the "surplus" patients will leave the hospital.

There are two straightforward solutions:
1) You could expand the zone of pharmacy in Management mode beyond the original room walls and bite some space from the Labs waiting room. That way the surplus patients can wait standing outside the pharmacy (no need for any construction changes) and no one decides to go home.
2) You could close the pharmacy on the second floor and at the same time expand the pharmacy on the ground level (both vacant space and the number of employees so it can handle the "Rush hour").

Once you get rid of the Pharmacy is too small warning there will be more patients/customers so I would advise you to take some optimization precautions. I have noticed that it is quite hard to hold the workplaces in pharmacies manned. Pharmacists often leave to take care of their needs and walk long distances. It is due to the fact that the employees will always prefer the bathrooms, vending machines, common rooms, etc. in their own department (standing on spot-zoned as part of the department). As the administrative department is spread throughout the entire hospital, the employees can choose exceptionally distant objects.

I hope those modest pieces of information will help you optimize your already impressive hospital and prevent the patiens/customers from leaving.

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by jirka_oxymoron:

Hello, sorry for the late answer, and also thank you for the save file. The cause of the Pharmacy is too small warning is the smaller (only by size but not by employee count) pharmacy on the second floor. When the patients are released from the hospitalizations the game mechanism checks the number of vacant tiles in the pharmacy (both the chairs and also the empty space where the patients can stand). If there is not enough vacant space all the "surplus" patients will leave the hospital.

There are two straightforward solutions:
1) You could expand the zone of pharmacy in Management mode beyond the original room walls and bite some space from the Labs waiting room. That way the surplus patients can wait standing outside the pharmacy (no need for any construction changes) and no one decides to go home.
2) You could close the pharmacy on the second floor and at the same time expand the pharmacy on the ground level (both vacant space and the number of employees so it can handle the "Rush hour").

Once you get rid of the Pharmacy is too small warning there will be more patients/customers so I would advise you to take some optimization precautions. I have noticed that it is quite hard to hold the workplaces in pharmacies manned. Pharmacists often leave to take care of their needs and walk long distances. It is due to the fact that the employees will always prefer the bathrooms, vending machines, common rooms, etc. in their own department (standing on spot-zoned as part of the department). As the administrative department is spread throughout the entire hospital, the employees can choose exceptionally distant objects.

I hope those modest pieces of information will help you optimize your already impressive hospital and prevent the patiens/customers from leaving.

Thank you. I’ll be doing that for the next upload. I already have a sort of plan laid out to expand the hospital pharmacy beyond its current capacity. I hope it gets rid of the issue once done

[ModerNertum]

Originally posted by jirka_oxymoron:

Hello, sorry for the late answer, and also thank you for the save file. The cause of the Pharmacy is too small warning is the smaller (only by size but not by employee count) pharmacy on the second floor. When the patients are released from the hospitalizations the game mechanism checks the number of vacant tiles in the pharmacy (both the chairs and also the empty space where the patients can stand). If there is not enough vacant space all the "surplus" patients will leave the hospital.

There are two straightforward solutions:
1) You could expand the zone of pharmacy in Management mode beyond the original room walls and bite some space from the Labs waiting room. That way the surplus patients can wait standing outside the pharmacy (no need for any construction changes) and no one decides to go home.
2) You could close the pharmacy on the second floor and at the same time expand the pharmacy on the ground level (both vacant space and the number of employees so it can handle the "Rush hour").

Once you get rid of the Pharmacy is too small warning there will be more patients/customers so I would advise you to take some optimization precautions. I have noticed that it is quite hard to hold the workplaces in pharmacies manned. Pharmacists often leave to take care of their needs and walk long distances. It is due to the fact that the employees will always prefer the bathrooms, vending machines, common rooms, etc. in their own department (standing on spot-zoned as part of the department). As the administrative department is spread throughout the entire hospital, the employees can choose exceptionally distant objects.

I hope those modest pieces of information will help you optimize your already impressive hospital and prevent the patiens/customers from leaving.

I’ll try to playtest the upgraded Pharmacies today. Do the gift shop workers work the same way?