Adams Memorial Hospital (AMH) has announced they will be hosting a community open house to meet their new surgical robot on Monday, September 25th from 4pm-7pm in the AMH Lobby. Adams Memorial Hospital has entered a new era in patient care by launching a robotic surgery program using the da Vinci Surgical System. Those attending the open house will be able to watch how the robot works, how the robot assists the AMH surgeons, enjoy robot cookies, promotional items, and maybe even try to operate the robot themselves.
While the term “robotic surgery” may bring to mind the image of a robot operating on a patient, the “robot” is simply a high-tech device that is fully operated by an experienced surgeon. The system enables the surgeon to view structures inside the patient’s body in very fine detail and perform delicate operations with a high degree of precision. Incisions can be smaller and the entire process less invasive than traditional surgery. The robot’s home is in one of the hospital’s three surgical suites, the system is a means of enhancing a surgeon’s skills and dexterity. AMH physicians control the movable arms of the device while seated at a computerized console. The console gives the surgeon a high-definition, magnified, 3-D view of the surgical site. Then, using hand and finger movements, the doctor manipulates the highly specialized instruments to perform very specific functions, allowing for even the tiniest movements. This enables the surgeon to reach and precisely alter structures deep within the patient’s abdomen through small incisions. The robot is a tool that assists AMH general surgeons, Dr. Jennifer Taylor, and Dr. Benjamin Hart, as well as OB/GYN, Dr. Craig Hanson by:
- Helping the surgeon to view fine detail inside the body (3-D view of the surgical site)
- Helping the surgeon to perform operations with a high degree of precision
- Smaller and fewer incisions
- Less invasive than traditional surgery
- Less blood loss during procedures
- Less pain during recovery
- Shorter hospital stays
- Minimal scarring
- Lower risk of infection and complications
- Better recovery times
- Better surgical outcomes
The robot’s name will be revealed at our upcoming open house on the evening of September 25th. Adams Memorial Hospital has also invited all 3rd and 4th graders in Adams County to help them name their new Surgical Robot. For the robot naming contest, the AMH marketing team dropped off a robot coloring page, asking the Adams County students to color and name their robot. The contest began in late August and completed pictures were picked up in September. Hospital leadership is in process of voting on the final name this week, each participating school had at least one submission to the final round. The winner of the robot naming contest will receive a pizza party for their class and all participating classes will receive a coupon for a free ice cream treat.
Dr. Scott Smith, CEO and Medical Director of Adams Health Network is excited to be able to offer our community this new technology as AMH is one of the few rural critical access hospitals to offer robotic surgery in Indiana. He looks forward to seeing how this new service will improve the recovery process and the overall outcome for AMH patients.
Dr. Jennifer Taylor, Dr. Benjamin Hart, and Dr. Craig Hanson have been extensively trained on the da Vinci system and are already seeing excellent results. The AMH physicians agree that the da Vinci system is an extension of their hands and a tool to help them in the operating room, but they control the procedure at every step. The robot has an excellent camera and allows for superior visualization that both Dr. Taylor, Dr. Hart, and Dr. Hanson are continually amazed with, and they believe the benefits of robotic surgery will definitely be an era that extends well into the future.