BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) — WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon held a private tour of the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System Tuesday evening.
Hospital officials said that board and foundation members got to see what the robot is and ask questions to medical professionals. They also added that the Da Vinci Robot will allow surgeons to perform more minimally invasive procedures and faster patient recovery times. The robot will be used for hernia repair, gallbladder surgery, and gynecological hysterectomies.
“We’ll be the second hospital in West Virginia to have a robot, and we’ll be the first WVU Medicine critical access hospital with a robot. And I think it is really important, so people don’t have to travel and go into the bigger cities,” Skip Gjolberg, President and CEO of WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital said. “UHC has a robot in Bridgeport, Ruby has a robot in Morgantown, but this allows us to keep that care local which I think is great because people don’t have to travel, and it is a lot more convenient.”
Officials with WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital said that procedures with the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System give patients a lower chance of risk for infections and blood loss and are minimally invasive procedures. The first procedure with the robot will take place on Thursday.
“It indicates that we are trying to be on the leading edge of technology and use the latest technology for patient safety, for again quicker recovery, less infections, all those advantages that it offers. And so, if a patient can access that I think that would give us an edge over the hospitals that are around us that don’t have it,” Gjolberg said.
