In my mid-20s I worked as a benefit-cost analyst for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in Los Angeles. The unit was named Benefit-Cost, not Cost-Benefit, intentionally putting the emphasis on benefit.

One of my roles was planning radiotherapy services for over a million people who, at that time, were treated in a number of hospitals spread over Los Angeles County. When would a new radiotherapy unit be required based on the expected rates of cancer in the population served, and where should that facility be placed?