CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System Celebrates 10 Years of Performing Robotic-Assisted Surgeries

CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System celebrated 10 years of performing robotic-assisted surgeries in the region Friday with a celebration that included a party that included robots icing the celebratory cake to mark the milestone.

“We were ahead of the game in Southeast Texas because we knew the robotic advancements would revolutionize surgeries and benefit our patients tremendously,” said Paul Trevino, President and CEO of CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System. “Our expert surgeons and staff have helped thousands of patients receive needed surgeries with less scarring, less pain and faster recovery times. We look forward to continuing to meet the growing needs of our community.”

CHRISTUS Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth Hospital uses three surgical robotic systems. The da Vinci Surgical System, which is used for gynecology, urology, bariatric and general surgeries was the system used to perform the very first robotic-assisted surgery at the hospital in July of 2013.

St. Elizabeth Hospital has since acquired a Stryker Mako unit to assist in orthopedic surgeries and a Globus Excelsior GPS robot that is used in spinal and neurosurgeries. Over 20 surgeons on staff at St. Elizbeth Hospital perform surgeries on one of these robotic platforms.

In July, General Surgeon Dr. Iumy Torres performed her 1,000th robotic surgery at the hospital.

“We can perform very complicated surgeries with smaller incisions and increased dexterity,” Torres said. “It allows us to zoom in on movements and look into areas that would otherwise be very hard to see. The smaller incisions mean less scarring and a faster recovery time.”

Six other surgeons are also marking the accomplishment of performing robotic-assisted surgeries for 10 years at CHRISTUS Southeast Texas St Elizabeth Hospital: Dr. Deborah Sherman, Dr. Kevin Dean, Dr. Ruben Victores, Dr. Stephanie Cunningham, Dr. Jane Angel and Dr. David Smith.