Gladys, Vince, Leo, and Domo aren’t your typical caregivers. They’re all surgical-assist robots at American Fork, Alta View, Riverton, and Layton hospitals. The hospitals have recently welcomed the new additions to their surgical services teams by giving the robots names, holding ribbon cuttings, providing educational demonstrations, and hosting community events.
OR team at American Fork Hospital welcomes their new surgical-assist robot, Gladys
The four hospitals recently launched robotic assisted surgery with the da Vinci XI robotic-assisted surgical system for minimally invasive surgeries for gynecologic, urologic, thoracic, cardiac, and general surgical procedures. Intermountain now has a total of 14 robots throughout the system. Adding the advanced equipment to community hospitals allows patients to receive care closer to home.
“This is a very precise type of surgery and it does away with the need for many hands right at the surgical site,” says Tami Montgomery, American Fork surgical services manager. “The incisions are small instead of bigger, and it allows for the surgeon to kind of see exactly the surgical field through the cameras operated off the robot arms. What all of that means for you as the patient is you’re going to have less pain, you’re going to have a shorter recovery time, and there’s less of a likelihood for you to get a surgical site infection.”
Robot demonstration event at Thanksgiving Point
“Besides potentially better outcomes for our patients, we’re hoping this technology will help us recruit more surgeons for our communities,” says Todd Neubert, Riverton Hospital administrator. “The latest generation of surgeons are training using robotic assisted surgery, they know the benefits to patients, and they’re prioritizing where they’d like to practice, looking to healthcare systems that have access to robotic assisted technology.”
The hospitals invited caregivers, physicians, and their families for an up-close look and hands on experience with robot-assisted surgery in a demonstration event hosted at the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point last month. During the hands-on demonstration on the same system surgeons use for training, the caregivers and their families used hand controls to move the robot’s arms to tear the wrappers off miniature candy bars and Starburst candy. A similar event was also hosted at Alta View Hospital.
Robot demonstration event at Alta View Hospital
American Fork Hospital also recently offered a hands-on, day-long robot demonstration for students of Alpine School District. Students were able to learn how the system works and see how math and science translates to career opportunities involving technology, engineering, and healthcare.
“The robotic surgical demonstration can excite students about potentially becoming surgeons themselves,” says Milda Shapiro, DO, general surgeon at American Fork. “These kinds of hands-on experiences can spark career-inspiring moments for high school students.”
Dr. Shapiro says her own career path in surgery started in high school when she visited a pig heart lab at the University of Utah with classmates.
“That was it for me,” she says. “I loved it, and I set my mind to go to surgery right there and then.” Read more and see photos of the Lone Peak High School event.