Before the improvements, what was the average OR suite turnover time?

• A. 60 minutes
• B. 50 minutes
• C. 70 minutes
• D. 90 minutes

Answer: (C)

Turnover time equals the interval from when one patient exits the operating room to when the next patient is ready to begin—the time spent cleaning, resetting the room, reconfiguring equipment, and getting everything ready for the next case. Saying the average before improvements was 70 minutes means, across turnover events in that pre-improvement period, the team spent about 70 minutes on average to prepare the suite for the next case. This baseline is what you compare future results to when measuring impact from changes aimed at faster, safer turnovers. A 70-minute average is a plausible middle-ground value: it’s neither as short as could risk incomplete cleaning and setup, nor as long as to indicate severe inefficiencies that would clearly skew throughput. The other options represent faster or slower baselines, but the given data identify 70 minutes as the typical pre-improvement level.