White Plains, NY (January 6, 2016) – White Plains Hospital was one of the first hospitals in Westchester to perform robotic surgery. Now celebrating its tenth year of using the technology, the Hospital has a remarkable group of robotic surgeons with extensive experience and skill, and a wide range of specialties.
White Plains Hospital surgeons have been skillfully performing robotic surgeries since 2005, when Dr. Seth Lerner, assisted by Dr. Philip Weber, performed the Hospital’s first robotic prostatectomy. Today, more than 95% of prostate surgeries in the US are done robotically, and over the past ten years the Hospital has expanded the use of the robotic platform to cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal); partial nephrectomy (kidney sparing surgery for kidney cancer); female urologic and gynecologic surgeries such as hysterectomy, sacral colpopexy (prolapse repair) and pelvic floor reconstruction; colorectal surgery; and thoracic surgery.
Additional White Plains Hospital surgeons have been leaders in the field as well. Dr. Herbert Gretz, a renowned gynecologic oncologist who performs robotic surgeries for various gynecologic cancers, is a pioneer in single-site robotic hysterectomies (the first performed in Westchester County in 2013). Dr. JK Rasamny was the first surgeon in Westchester to perform TORS (Trans Oral Robotic Surgery) for removing cancers of the head and neck, performing the first robotic radical tonsillectomy in Westchester County in 2014.
With one of the most comprehensive robotic surgery programs in the region, White Plains Hospital recently added new state-of-the-art operating suites, all equipped for minimally invasive and robotic surgeries.
Advantages of robotic surgery – Robotic surgery uses very small instruments attached to a robotic arm, controlled by a skilled surgeon at a console that allows for very precise operation. Plus the robot has a 3D camera to help surgeons see what they can't visualize in open surgery. Robotic surgery has many potential advantages over traditional open surgery including less blood loss, faster recovery time, and less post-operative pain and scarring.
A leader in the field – Robotic surgery, now commonplace at many hospitals throughout the U.S., was still a novel concept to many when the FDA approved the da Vinci Surgical System for general laparoscopic surgery in 2000. In 2005, White Plains Hospital acquired a robotic surgical system and began using it to perform prostate cancer surgery.
Then and now – "It's remarkable how far we've come in ten years," says Seth Lerner, M.D., who leads White Plains Hospital's prostate cancer surgery program and is a national leader in the field of robotic prostatectomy. "Not too many hospitals of our size have done as many robotic prostatectomies as we have. We've improved patient outcomes and quality of life, reduced the length of the procedure, and shortened the inpatient hospital stay. With this technology, we've improved people's lives."
Find out more about Robotic Surgery at White Plains Hospital at www.wphospital.org/roboticsurgery.
About White Plains Hospital
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital performs lifesaving emergency and elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Marie Promuto Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. White Plains Hospital also has outpatient medical facilities in Armonk and New Rochelle. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2015 and 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 5% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.