diff --git a/.github/workflows/create_baseline.yaml b/.github/workflows/create_baseline.yaml
index 5005310..93eb21e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create_baseline.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create_baseline.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ jobs:
   
     - name: generate baseline
       run: |
-        Rscript src/code/get_baseline.r
+        TODAY=$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
+        REF_DATE=$(date -d "$TODAY + 3 days" +'%Y-%m-%d') 
+        Rscript src/code/get_baseline.r --reference-date "$REF_DATE"
 
     - name: Commit changes
       uses: EndBug/add-and-commit@v9
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create_ensemble.yaml b/.github/workflows/create_ensemble.yaml
index 02ef1d7..81569a0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create_ensemble.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create_ensemble.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ jobs:
       shell: Rscript {0}
   
     - name: generate ensemble
-      run:  Rscript src/code/get_ensemble.r
+      run: |
+        TODAY=$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
+        REF_DATE=$(date -d "$TODAY + 2 days" +'%Y-%m-%d') 
+        Rscript src/code/get_ensemble.r --reference-date "$REF_DATE"
 
     - name: Commit changes
       uses: EndBug/add-and-commit@v9
diff --git a/src/code/get_baseline.r b/src/code/get_baseline.r
index 6bfb36d..7390864 100644
--- a/src/code/get_baseline.r
+++ b/src/code/get_baseline.r
@@ -1,23 +1,37 @@
 library(epipredict)
 
-#' Return `date` if it has the desired weekday, else the next date that does
-#' @param date `Date` vector
-#' @param ltwday integerish vector; of weekday code(s), following POSIXlt
-#'   encoding but allowing either 0 or 7 to represent Sunday.
-#' @return `Date` object
-curr_or_next_date_with_ltwday <- function(date, ltwday) {
-  checkmate::assert_class(date, "Date")
-  checkmate::assert_integerish(ltwday, lower = 0L, upper = 7L)
-  date + (ltwday - as.POSIXlt(date)$wday) %% 7L
+parser <- argparser::arg_parser(
+  "Create a flat baseline model for covid-19 hospital admissions"
+)
+parser <- argparser::add_argument(
+  parser, "--reference-date",
+  help = "reference date in YYYY-MM-DD format"
+)
+
+args <- argparser::parse_args(parser)
+reference_date <- as.Date(args$reference_date)
+
+dow_supplied <- lubridate::wday(reference_date,
+  week_start = 7,
+  label = FALSE
+)
+if (dow_supplied != 7) {
+  cli::cli_abort(message = paste0(
+    "Expected `reference_date` to be a Saturday, day number 7 ",
+    "of the week, given the `week_start` value of Sunday. ",
+    "Got {reference_date}, which is day number ",
+    "{dow_supplied} of the week."
+  ))
 }
 
-# Prepare data, use tentative file-name/location, might need to be changed
+desired_max_time_value <- reference_date - 7L
+
 target_tbl <- readr::read_csv(
   "target-data/covid-hospital-admissions.csv",
   col_types = readr::cols_only(
     date = readr::col_date(format = ""),
     location = readr::col_character(),
-    location_name = readr::col_character(),
+    state = readr::col_character(),
     value = readr::col_double()
   )
 )
@@ -26,17 +40,12 @@ loc_df <- read.csv("target-data/locations.csv")
 
 target_epi_df <- target_tbl |>
   dplyr::transmute(
-    geo_value = loc_df$abbreviation[match(location_name, loc_df$location_name)],
+    geo_value = state,
     time_value = .data$date,
     weekly_count = .data$value
   ) |>
   epiprocess::as_epi_df()
 
-# date settings
-forecast_as_of_date <- Sys.Date()
-reference_date <- curr_or_next_date_with_ltwday(forecast_as_of_date, 6L)
-desired_max_time_value <- reference_date - 7L
-
 # Validation:
 excess_latency_tbl <- target_epi_df |>
   tidyr::drop_na(weekly_count) |>
diff --git a/src/code/get_ensemble.r b/src/code/get_ensemble.r
index 4479d83..73057bb 100644
--- a/src/code/get_ensemble.r
+++ b/src/code/get_ensemble.r
@@ -1,6 +1,29 @@
 # R script to create ensemble forecats using models submitted to the CovidHub
 
-ref_date <- lubridate::ceiling_date(Sys.Date(), "week") - lubridate::days(1)
+parser <- argparser::arg_parser(
+  "Create a hub ensemble model for covid-19 hospital admissions"
+)
+parser <- argparser::add_argument(
+  parser, "--reference-date",
+  help = "reference date in YYYY-MM-DD format"
+)
+
+args <- argparser::parse_args(parser)
+reference_date <- as.Date(args$reference_date)
+
+dow_supplied <- lubridate::wday(reference_date,
+  week_start = 7,
+  label = FALSE
+)
+if (dow_supplied != 7) {
+  cli::cli_abort(message = paste0(
+    "Expected `reference_date` to be a Saturday, day number 7 ",
+    "of the week, given the `week_start` value of Sunday. ",
+    "Got {reference_date}, which is day number ",
+    "{dow_supplied} of the week."
+  ))
+}
+
 hub_path <- "."
 task_id_cols <- c(
   "reference_date", "location", "horizon",
@@ -15,7 +38,7 @@ if (!dir.exists(output_dirpath)) {
 hub_content <- hubData::connect_hub(hub_path)
 current_forecasts <- hub_content |>
   dplyr::filter(
-    reference_date == ref_date,
+    reference_date == reference_date,
     !str_detect(model_id, "CovidHub")
   ) |>
   hubData::collect_hub()
@@ -41,9 +64,10 @@ eligible_models <- purrr::map(yml_files, is_model_designated) |>
 
 write.csv(
   eligible_models,
-  file.path(
-    output_dirpath,
-    paste0(as.character(ref_date), "-", "models-to-include-in-ensemble.csv")
+  file.path(output_dirpath,
+    paste0(
+      as.character(reference_date), "-", "models-to-include-in-ensemble.csv"
+    )
   ),
   row.names = FALSE
 )
@@ -74,7 +98,7 @@ write.csv(
   median_ensemble_outputs,
   file.path(
     output_dirpath,
-    paste0(as.character(ref_date), "-", "CovidHub-ensemble.csv")
+    paste0(as.character(reference_date), "-", "CovidHub-ensemble.csv")
   ),
   row.names = FALSE
 )