I need advice . . .

[Doersam, Laurel]

I've been asked to facilitate a group in the cardiac surgery section of the
Operating Room in a large urban hospital.  The issue to be explored is:
"Given our current caseload, how can we increase efficiency so we all get
home on time?"  (Generally everyone involved is late getting off).  This may
seem straight forward, but it's a very complex problem involving everyone
from cleaning staff to nursing staff to cardiac surgeons to
anaesthesiologists to equipment attendants.  Add to the stew the traditional
hierarchy within health care (and the attendant prima-dona-ism), half a
dozen hidden agendas (or not-so-hidden), and the involvement of several
layers of self-employed professionals as well as employees from five
different unions.  It's a mess.

Here's the crunch . . . they only have two hours to devote to addressing
this problem.  They are able to push their OR time back by an hour, and come
in an hour early (Yikes! 0645!!), but must be ready to operate by 0900.
It's a very tight timeline for an Open Space, however the question is very
specific and action-oriented.  Dare I try to use OST?  I guess the real
attraction for me in this case is the community-building component inherent
in opening space - each person's job (not to mention the patient's life) is
totally dependant on everyone else on the team performing to capacity.  So
it sure would be a good thing for them to understand each others'
challenges.  However, once the can of worms is opened, how do I pull it
together in such a short space of time?

What do you much more seasoned experts think?  I'd sure appreciate some
advice.

Laurel.