Decisions made in hospitals, cities, and public utilities shape daily life in ways most people never see. A small change in how a system is designed can shorten wait times, improve access to care, or reduce environmental harm. The wrong change can create new problems that are difficult and costly to undo.

Queen’s researcher Dr. Vedat Verter (Smith School of Business) helps leaders understand those risks before decisions are put into place. His work uses analytics, operations research and simulation to show how complex systems are likely to respond to change, giving decision-makers a clearer view of consequences before policies are implemented or investments are made.

Before beginning his academic career, Dr. Verter spent five years as an industrial engineer in the research and development centre of Türkiye’s largest industrial corporation. He worked inside large-scale operations, dealing directly with delays and inefficiencies in everyday decisions. 

The experience taught him how powerful data-driven decision-making can be and convinced him to apply these tools beyond profit-driven environments, in public systems where decisions directly affect people’s health, safety, and quality of life.

Today, as the Stephen J. R. Smith Chair in Management Analytics, Dr. Verter’s research spans health care, environmental safety and circular economy, all united by a central goal: helping leaders test change before people feel the consequences.

That approach has earned national recognition. In 2025, Dr. Verter received the Merit Award from the Canadian Operational Research Society, a lifetime achievement honour awarded annually to one researcher whose work has had sustained impact on practice. The award reflects a career devoted to applying analytics across academic appointments in Canada and the United States, including at McGill University, before joining Queen’s.
 

Improving emergency care through system-level insight

One area where that impact is especially visible is health care. While working with hospitals in Montreal, Dr. Verter studied rising pressure in emergency departments, where long wait times were delaying patient care.

Hospital leaders needed to understand whether delays were caused by internal processes or by broader issues elsewhere in the health system. In some cases, bottlenecks formed during triage and treatment. In others, patients turned to emergency care because they lacked access to primary care. The source of the problem mattered, because the solutions were different.

To support decision making, his team built a detailed simulation model that recreated how the emergency department of their partner hospital operates each day. The model tracked patient movement, staff activity, and the use of key resources, allowing leaders to test different intervention scenarios and see how changes in one area would affect the rest of the system.

One solution supported by the model was the creation of a Rapid Assessment Zone, a dedicated space for patients with minor symptoms. These patients could often be treated quickly but they tended to wait the longest because their cases were not urgent. By giving them a separate treatment path, the partner emergency department increased patient volume, reduced wait times, and freed staff to focus on more complex emergencies.

“It sounds obvious that better information leads to better decisions,” says Dr. Verter. “But in large systems, people often act on limited experience rather than seeing the full picture.” 
 

Strengthening breast cancer screening networks

Similar system-level questions shaped Dr. Verter’s work on breast cancer screening in Quebec. The province needed an evidence-based process for deciding which screening centres should be accredited for a publicly funded program.

The challenge was balancing access with quality. Radiologists need to read a sufficient number of mammograms each year to maintain diagnostic accuracy, but concentrating services too tightly could make screening harder to access for women living farther from city centres.

Dr. Verter studied where screening demand was highest, how far patients were willing to travel, and how patient volumes varied across neighbourhoods. He also examined how diagnostic accuracy improved when radiologists were able to read a consistent number of images.

By bringing these factors together, his analytical work helped guide accreditation decisions that improved access levels while also supporting high-quality screening. The result was a network designed around evidence rather than intuition, helping more women receive timely care without compromising accuracy.
 

Planning cleaner cities with smarter waste systems

At Queen’s, Dr. Verter has applied his expertise closer to home. In a partnership with colleagues at Smith Engineering, Utilities Kingston, and the City of Kingston, he is helping explore how analytics can guide long-term environmental planning.

The project examines alternatives to building a single, large organic waste processing facility. Instead, the team is studying a decentralized model using several smaller facilities that can be phased in over time. These sites would process household and farm waste alongside sludge from wastewater treatment plants, capturing methane produced during decomposition and feeding it into the region’s natural gas system.

The team’s role is to test how different designs would perform over time and to evaluate trade-offs between financial cost, environmental impact, and community needs. The goal is to help decision-makers understand long-term outcomes before committing to major infrastructure investments.

Across health care, environmental planning, and municipal services, his work reflects the same core idea. When leaders can anticipate how complex systems respond to change in advance, they are better equipped to make decisions that improve lives and strengthen communities.

“Good research should make life easier for the people it touches,” says Dr. Verter. “Strong evidence gives communities the foundation they need to build a better future.”