With the arrival of new surgical robots, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) is embracing advanced technology that hospital leaders say could play a crucial role in recruiting and retaining physicians.
On Thursday, the hospital announced the arrival of two new robots, specifically for assisting with orthopedic surgery. Philanthropic contributions to the RVH Foundation covered the full capital cost of the machines, the total of which is unconfirmed.
However, hospital officials say the new additions represent more than just what they can do in the operating room, but what they can do for the hospital's future.
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Gail Hunt, the president and CEO of RVH, says among the laundry list of changes to protocol the new technology brings to the hospital, having robotic assistance will begin to attract surgeons and other physicians, especially those beginning their careers.
"It just makes it more difficult to recruit and new graduates and new fellows to our region if they don't have access to the same equipment they were learning on," she said to Barrie360. "The really big push from our medical teams was 'if you want us to recruit and expand our medical teams, we need to have availability of the same equipment that people are expecting.'"
She adds that many physicians the hospital tries to bring in have never done unassisted surgery because of their work at larger teaching hospitals, which RVH aspires to be.
As the newer breed of doctors enters the field, they end up tipping the scales, with their preferences and level of ability becoming more widespread than those of their older, more experienced colleagues.
"When you're at the end of your career, it's a little bit harder to totally change the way you do things," Hunt adds. "I think we're seeing that shift in medical teams demanding that we do things differently and push forward."
"This can signal that we do things a different way, we're embracing new technologies," says Dr. John Rissanen, chief medical innovation and transformation officer for RVH, said at Thursday's announcement. "That helps in the all-important recruitment and retention of our physicians."
Dr. Rissanen will be in the operating room on Monday alongside Dr. Ryan Perlus, who will lead the hospital's first robot-assisted surgery; a total knee arthroscopy.
The machine to be used that procedure, according to Dr. Perlus, creates a detailed 3-D image model of the joint from an x-ray, and "tracks leg position like an ultra-precise G.P.S." However, he adds the surgeon remains in control of the limb throughout the entire procedure.
With the imaging, the medical team will have a deeper understanding of the patient's alignment and know exactly what size of components will be needed for the operation. Overall, it allows for a more individualized surgery plan for the patient.
"It'll allow us to test out what their knee is telling us in terms of their functional anatomy, so soft tissue tensioning," the orthopedic surgeon says. "Then, we can perform our bony cuts and replace the joint with much more precision that we would normally be able to do.
"We try to improve the early functional outcome... Less pain, more mobility, and back to their normal activities [sooner]."
Hunt describes the process of bringing the machines in as a "new journey" for RVH, and comes at a time when the demand for orthopedic surgeries is growing.
"As our population increases and ages, more patients are requiring hip and knee replacements, and they're expecting care to be precise, personalized, and close to home."
The robots make RVH the first hospital in the Simcoe Muskoka region, and one of a dozen in Ontario to offer robotic-assisted joint replacement surgery. It says it expects to use robotic-assisted techniques in approximately 400 of its annual 1,400 hip and knee replacements. Though, such surgeries done in a traditional fashion will continue.
But down the road, the hospital has visions for this technology to assist procedures in other specialties. Other robots are on the market that are designed for urology, gynecology, and even general surgery.
Dr. Perlus calls the two machines at RVH the "gold standard" of orthopedic robotic assisted surgery. The second machine, which uses CT scans to create its 3-D imaging, will become part of the hospital's program in late February, beginning with partial knee replacements followed by total knee and hip procedures.
