Sparrow Hospital in Lansing invested $160 million in the 10-story addition, which includes two recently opened 680 square foot, robot-assisted operating rooms.
The rooms are large enough to accommodate complicated surgical and monitoring platforms smaller rooms couldn’t hold.
“By having the bigger rooms we can do non-robotic surgeries and not know [the robotic equipment] is there,” says Evelyn Bochenek with Sparrow Hospitals, adding that the new machines would crowd the hospital’s smaller operating rooms.
Robotic-assisted surgeries are used for technical procedures such as hysterectomies and prostatectomies. They typically require shorter recovery times and reduce 
patient scarring. Sparrow invested $1.5 million in a second robotic surgical system earlier this year. Since 2005, the hospital’s preformed more than 1,000 robot-assisted surgeries.
“When some people hear ‘robotic-assisted surgery,’ they almost picture a machine with a mind of its own hovering over an operating table,” says April Morris, patient care manager for Sparrow’s robotic surgery program. “In reality, the da Vinci unit’s miniaturized robotic arms are controlled at all times by a highly trained surgeon, working in conjunction with specialized operating room staff. Patients are surprised by how quickly they return to their normal routine after robotic-assisted surgery. More patients are telling their friends and neighbors about the benefits, and we’re seeing a growing demand for Sparrow’s da Vinci program.”
The two recently opened specialty operating rooms are two of six specialized operating rooms that opened this year.
Source: Evelyn Bochenek, Sparrow Hospital
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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