Robosurgeon: St. Clair Hospital acquires robotic-arms device for prostate surgeries
-
Arthur Thomas, a urologist at St. Clair Hospital, with the $1.8 million robot. The hospital has acquired the robotic device for minimally invasive surgeries.
Share with others:
An imposing sight in one of St. Clair Hospital's new surgical suites, the da Vinci Si surgical system has a design that seems inspired by Dr. Otto Octavius of Spiderman comic book fame.
Four arms protrude from a heavy console, three with a set of pincers at the end and the fourth equipped for a camera that gives the surgeon, sitting at a station a few feet away, a three-dimensional, high-definition, 10-times-magnified view of the surgical site.
The cost: $1.8 million, including the necessary accessories.
For Barry S. Zaiser, senior vice president of operations and strategic development at the Mt. Lebanon hospital, the da Vinci purchase this spring allows St. Clair to offer what nationally has become the gold standard for radical prostatectomy -- removing the diseased prostate using a robotic surgical system.
"We're careful about what we invest in, but we think more and more patients are going to want this surgery done robotically," he said. "We want to provide that care in our community."
Pittsburgh's major urban hospitals have been using robotic equipment for prostate and other surgeries for about five years, but now high-tech -- and expensive -- medical technology is moving to the suburbs' regional and community hospitals.
Advances in medical technology have made such purchases easier for smaller hospitals, said A.J. Harper, president of the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, who added that hospital CEOs were careful that those major investments match the medical needs of their communities. "Highest quality and lowest cost: That's the name of the game."
For patients, it means they may need to travel only few miles for treatment, a particular bonus for those battling cancer or some other condition that requires repeated trips to the hospital.
Monongahela Valley Hospital in Monongahela, for example, has purchased a new linear accelerator for delivering high-energy radiation for treating cancer, and is constructing four new operating rooms and expanding its recovery room, all part of a $24 million project. The hospital is going for a bond issue, and has launched a fundraising campaign, to help pay for it.
"It's nothing we can't handle [financially]," said Mon Valley's Daniel F. Simmons, senior vice president and treasurer. "We've got to have the best technology available to serve our patients and our community."
First Published June 3, 2011 12:00 am
