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New Davinci Xi at Clay Baptist revolutionizes outpatient surgeries

$2 million robot simplifies once-complicated procedures

By Don Coble don@opcfla.com
Posted 10/7/20

FLEMING ISLAND – Imagine driving to the hospital, having your gall bladder removed or receiving a hysterectomy, and being home in time for to watch “Ellen” in the afternoon.

A new surgical …

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New Davinci Xi at Clay Baptist revolutionizes outpatient surgeries

$2 million robot simplifies once-complicated procedures


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – Imagine driving to the hospital, having your gall bladder removed or receiving a hysterectomy, and being home in time for to watch “Ellen” in the afternoon.

A new surgical robot at Baptist Clay Medical Campus makes it all possible.

Surgery technicians and doctors have spent the last couple weeks in training on the Davinci Xi Robotic Surgery System, with plans to start performing outpatient procedures as early as next week, said Hospital President Darin Roark.

“We’re making a $2 million investment in the robot alone,” Roark said. “That’s $2 million so we can provide better care to the patients who live here at Fleming Island and to Clay County. They don’t have to drive out of the county to get this type of procedure done on an outpatient basis. The robot will be right here in our outpatient surgery center. It’s brand new.

“Patients have a really quick recovery time, less blood loss, smaller incisions and way fewer complications.”

The robot has four arms that protract like spider legs. Four probes are inserted in the abdominal cavity before procedure that provides precise information to the surgeon. A doctor then operates the robot by using hand and foot controls from a separate control console.

The Davinci Xi provides multi-quadrant access and is used for a variety of complex minimally invasive surgical procedures. The robotic surgical tool allows surgeons to make incisions smaller than a dime, in most cases. Smaller incisions mean better outcomes and faster recoveries which allows patients to get back to their normal routines.

It’s possible for future surgeries can be performed by a physician who’s not only in the operating room, but in another country.

The Davinci Xi will be used for abdominal procedures, Roark said, including OB-GYN, gall bladder, hernia and prostate procedures. In every case, the patient can go home after the procedure.

Baptist Clay soon will break ground on a new hospital that’s expected to be opened in 20 months. Until then, all procedures will be done on an outpatient basis.

“We built a 630-square-feet operating room knowing we would be bringing the robot in,” Roark said. “We can start doing more complicated procedures once the hospital is built. Right now, we’re just doing the easy ones, if you will, because they have to go home. Once the hospital is here, we can do the more complex ones. It’s the latest and greatest. Ninety-five percent of hernia procedures are done with the robot.”

“We’re completing training with the staff,” Roark said. “We have two at Baptist South, a couple of them downtown and we have a couple of them at the Beaches. I know [other hospitals] have at least one, but as an outpatient surgery center, again we don’t have the hospital beds yet, this is the only place in Northeast Florida where you can come to an outpatient center and receive this type of procedure.”

The robot has revolutionized procedures that used to require hospital stays and ugly scars.

“My wife had surgery with the robot three years ago, and she was literally mowing the grass four days later,” Roark said. “She wasn’t supposed to. It was against doctor’s orders, but she felt that great.”

Hospitals have been tasked with keeping pace with medical advancements, as well as answering the challenges that comes with rapid growth.

“Just wait, the best is yet to come,” Roark said.