NEWPORT – Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital has become the first, small rural hospital in Oregon to acquire and implement robotic-assisted surgery equipment in one of its operating rooms.
The da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery system has been in use at the Newport hospital since April, the hospital said in an announcement, giving surgeons enhanced precision and control while conducting procedures. It is an alternative to both traditional open surgery and conventional laparoscopy.
“This is an amazing moment for our small and thriving community hospital,” said Aimee Thompson, board chair of the Pacific Communities Health District.
Samaritan Health Services, which operates the hospital in Newport as well as sister facilities in Lincoln City, Corvallis, Albany and Lebanon, is leasing the $2 million da Vinci system. Samaritan’s hospitals in Corvallis and Albany also have da Vinci equipment. The Pacific Communities Health District provided the funds to upgrade the surgical suite in Newport to allow for the robotic system.
A Samaritan spokeswoman said there are no plans to buy or lease more da Vinci systems.
“Typically, critical access hospitals do not acquire robotic systems due to the cost and smaller demand,” said spokeswoman Mary Jo Kerlin. “However, surgical volumes at this hospital are high enough to justify placing one here.”
The hospital and its sister facility in Lincoln City are among 25 rural Oregon hospitals designated by the federal government as “critical access” facilities enabling them to get full Medicare reimbursement or higher to cover cost of care. The designation aims to improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities. Other nearby critical access hospitals are in Florence, Tillamook, Dallas, and Lebanon.
The federal designation also protects communities from over-building by limiting the number of hospital beds. The Newport hospital has 25 and Lincoln City has 16. It also requires the hospital’s emergency room to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Samaritan Pacific’s outpatient surgeries reached 3,171 in 2022, up nearly a third from before the Covid pandemic. While the Newport hospital has just 25 beds, Samaritan has increased its offerings, from cardiac care to eye surgeries and orthopedics.
“Our goal is to try to do everything we can so that people don’t have to travel for their basic or in some cases even their expanded care,” said Dr. Lesley Ogden, the hospital’s chief executive officer told YachatsNews in mid-2023.
The hospital district is naming the robotic surgery suite in honor of Dr. Ralph Breitenstein, who has served on its board for the past decade and was a big advocate for the robotic surgery program in Newport.
Although it is often referred to as a “robot,” the da Vinci system cannot operate on its own, hospital officials said in the announcement. A surgeon is always in control, using hand movements to generate smaller, more precise movements of tiny instruments inside the patient’s body.
In announcing the new system, Samaritan said benefits to the patient include smaller, more precise incisions; reduced blood loss; minimized scarring; lower levels of post-operative pain; diminished risk of infection; shorter hospital stays; accelerated recovery times and prompt resumption of normal activities.
Benefits to the surgeon include expanded capabilities for tackling complex procedures; enhanced 3D visualization of their work; improved dexterity and precision; mitigation of hand tremors; superior control over surgical instruments; and attractiveness as a training resource for newer surgeons, thus enhancing recruitment efforts.
So far, doctors who have been trained to perform robotic-assisted surgeries at the Newport hospital are surgeons Dr. David Larsen and Dr. Nathaniel Uecker; OB/GYN Dr. Michael Swift, and urologist Dr. Layron Long.
“The investment made by Samaritan Health Services and the Pacific Communities Health District affirms their dedication to this hospital and to our community,” Thompson said in the news release.