DAVAO CITY – State-run Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) here will soon be capable of performing robotic-assisted surgeries as it plans to acquire a cutting-edge technology that can save more lives in Mindanao.
SPMC chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said on Thursday that the government hospital is now in the pre-procurement stage for Da Vinci surgical system but he hopes to have this technology installed by November this year.
The world-class technology is estimated to cost around P300 million, he said.
Once installed, Audan said that the SPMC will be the first hospital under the Department of Health to utilize this technology for surgeries.
He said that there are currently four hospitals in the country which are capable of using this technology but all of them, including the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), are in Manila.
The three other hospitals are private, according to Audan.
He said that part of the cost in acquiring the technology is the training of surgeons who will operate the machine.
Audan said that this technology will be placed at the new SPMC new Mindanao Kidney Transplant Institute which is nearly complete.
He said that the robotics technology is capable of other 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 to Mindanaoans,” he said.
With this technology, Audan added that there will be “less bleeding, less institution, good, and less mortality” and better healing of 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.”