DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 04 July) – The Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) here is set to acquire a new robotic technology that will enable surgeons to perform robotic-assisted surgeries.
In a phone interview on Thursday, SPMC chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said that the government-owned hospital is already preparing for the acquisition of the Da Vinci surgical system, a world-class technology that could help save more lives in Mindanao.
He said that the hospital is now in the pre-procurement stage and that they are hoping to have it installed and operationalized by November 2024.
Audan noted the technology may cost the SPMC around P300 million to acquire. The cost already covers the training of human surgeons who will operate the machine.
With this new technology, Audan said that the SPMC is poised to become the first hospital of the Department of Health in the Visayas and Mindanao that is capable of performing robotic-assisted surgery.
He said that there are currently four hospitals in the country that are using this technology, but all of them are located in Manila.
Aside from University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), three private hospitals have been using this technology, according to him.
He said that this technology will be put up at the nearly completed building of the Mindanao Kidney Transplant Institute of the SPMC.
He said that the robotics technology is capable of surgical specialties, including, among others, ophthalmology, orthopedic, ENT (eyes, nose, throat), and obstetrics and gynecology.
“I think that Davao should not be left behind when we talk about global competitiveness, so that we can offer whatever technology available to Mindanawons,” he said.
With this technology, Audan added that there will be “less bleeding and less mortality,” and better healing for the patients.
In 2019, the UP-PGH acquired the “Da Vinci Surgical System, allowing surgeons to perform robotic-assisted minimally-invasive procedures, affording minimal tissue handling and blood loss.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)