Lee Health Invests in, Advances Robotic-Assisted Surgery Program

June 8, 2022

Robotic-assisted surgery allows surgeons to perform complex procedures with advanced accuracy and more flexibility and control, which could result in smaller scars, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery time and less pain. At Lee Health, we have been leading the way with robotics in Southwest Florida since 2011, when we first acquired a da Vinci robot, which is now housed in the Shipley Cardiothoracic Center. Since then, we have expanded our robotic-assisted surgery program, increasing the number of robotics systems throughout our health system, so fewer patients need to leave the region to get specialized robotic surgeries.

As we have grown the robotic-assisted surgery program, we have increased the number of da Vinci robots to seven, ensuring we have at least one system at each of our adult hospitals. Surgeons use the da Vinci robots for a variety of procedures and to treat different conditions, including coronary bypass, gynecological, kidney, lung cancer and thoracic, prostate cancer, gallbladder disease and more.

Earlier this spring, Lee Health acquired the ExcelsiusGPS® robot, which is housed at Gulf Coast Medical Center and used for first-of-its-kind robotic surgery in our community – minimally-invasive spine and brain procedures. Surgeons can use the ExcelsiusGPS® to perform spinal surgery and procedures on the brain, including brain tumor and blood clot removal, biopsies, placement of catheters and for the management of tremors.

Another new robotic system has also been introduced at Cape Coral Hospital and Lee Memorial Hospital – the ROSA® Robotics platform, which is used specifically for orthopedic procedures. Surgeons at our Lee Health hospitals have used the system to perform knee surgeries and are training to use it for hip surgeries, too.

Lee Health is committed to growing this innovative program. We have hired Fia Yi, M.D., a leader in the robotics medical field with more than a decade of specialized surgical experience, to serve as medical director of the system robotics program. Together with Jonathan Velez, M.D., chief physician and operations executive at Gulf Coast Medical Center, Dr. Yi and the robotics oversight committee is ensuring we have the latest technology and recruiting experienced, skilled surgeons so we can keep our patients close to home for the leading-edge care they need and deserve.