Robotic surgical system purchased for Samaritan Hospital
A new da Vinci model surgical robot, similar to the one pictured, will be available at Samaritan Hospital in the near future.
COURTESY IMAGE/INTIUTIVE SURGICAL
MOSES LAKE — Samaritan Hospital will be purchasing new surgical equipment that will allow the hospital to perform procedures that were previously unavailable in Moses Lake. Samaritan commissioners got a presentation on the new system Tuesday.
The new robotic system, called the da Vinci, will cost a maximum of $4 million. Chief Administrative Officer Alex Town said part of the money was allocated in the hospital’s 2023 capital budget. The hospital also received a $1 million grant that will go toward the purchase, Town said.
The robot originally was scheduled for purchase this year, but money was reallocated toward the purchase of new hospital beds, Town said.
“(The hospital beds) were generally 20-plus years old,” he said.
Hospital officials spent about $2 million for hospital beds. But, said Chief Executive Officer Theresa Sullivan new beds were included in the budget for the new Samaritan hospital currently under construction.
“We had hoped that we could wait for the new hospital, because it would’ve been nice just to put the new beds there, but we couldn’t wait,” Sullivan said.
Since the beds were purchased with money originally intended for the robotic system, $2 million intended for new beds was reallocated to the robot, Town said.
Andrea Mattson, chief of surgery, said the use of robots is the next evolution in surgical techniques. Just as laparoscopic surgery, which uses small incisions and tiny cameras, was better for patients, robotic techniques can be better for certain types of surgery.
The robot uses high-definition 3D cameras to see, and can move in ways the human hand can’t, she said.
Hospitals that have added robotic technology have been able to treat more patients, with increases in general surgery, gynecology and urology cases, she said. Most of that increase occurred in general surgery.
In answer to a question from Commissioner Alan White, Mattson said the robot technology is useful in some emergency situations, citing emergency gallbladder surgery as an example.
Surgeons and other staff members will be getting training on the new equipment over the next few weeks, she said.