My name is Maureen Jackson and I’m the Vice President of Surgical Services at Phoebe Putney Hospital.  I’m going to talk to you today about the robotics program at Phoebe.  Robotics is often heralded as a new revolution in surgery and is one of the most talked about subjects that we have today.  We implemented our robotics program approximately two years ago in June of 2009.  Since that time we have done 631 cases across three specialties—general surgery, urology, and OB-GYN.  The most popular procedures we do are hysterectomies and prostatectomies.  

There are many advantages to robotic surgery.  Some of those include less risk of infection for patients, decrease of blood loss.  Patients actually get out of the hospital quicker, they’re able to return to work and their normal activities, and they also have to receive less pain medication after surgery.  Robotics at Phoebe Putney have been successful because we had the vision and support of our hospital board that enabled us to buy the robot.  We did not just view that as buying a piece of equipment, but really the opportunity to develop a program.

We had a group of highly-skilled physicians who were very excited about the opportunity to build a robotics program at Phoebe.  We also have a team of highly-specialized staff who have had the training and education that has enabled them to assist the physician with building our program.  For more information about robotics at Phoebe, please call 229-312-5207.  Thank you.