Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle Installs State-of-the-Art Robotic System
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The new da Vinci system at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle has nothing to do with painting, but it is truly a work of art for the medical profession.
The system allows surgeons to sit at a console away from the patient and operate four robotic arms. One arm holds a camera that produces a magnified image to give the surgeon a better view while the other three arms hold surgical instruments. Surgeons make four small incisions with the da Vinci robot using the mechanical arms to perform surgeries.
Baptist Golden Triangle officials say they are initially using the system only for prostate surgeries.
Patients who have the da Vinci surgery have smaller scars less pain after surgery shorter hospital stays and a quicker recovery, says Rick Lassiter, CEO and administrator of Baptist Golden Triangle. This new robotic technology enables us to continue our focus on providing high-quality medical care to the citizens of Lowndes County and the surrounding areas.
Baptist Golden Triangle, which was founded in 1969, has more than 328 beds and a staff of 1,000 that includes 100 physicians and surgeons.
Besides the da Vinci system, recent additions to the hospital include a Level II trauma emergency department, an on-site pharmacy as well as services such as pediatric dentistry and plastic surgery.
Doctors and nurses at Baptist care for nearly 50,000 emergency room patients each year, and the hospital oversees approximately 850 annual births.
We completed a $34 million construction in June 2005 that included 151 new patient beds as well as labor/delivery/recovery suites and a well-baby nursery, Lassiter says. Also, in the area of women’s services, we offer a 24-hour baby hot line, childbirth and sibling classes, digital mammography services and bone density scans.
The hospital also has a sleep disorders center, the only sleep center in the Golden Triangle area accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
At our sleep center, Baptist has certified respiratory therapists, a pulmonologist and neurologist who monitor sleep activities such as brain wave, muscle and eye movements, Lassiter says. They also monitor breathing through the mouth and nose snoring heart rate and leg movements.
The hospital also provides services for patients with behavioral and mental health problems, as well as chemical dependency.
In addition, we were the first comprehensive cancer center in this area of Mississippi and one of the first hospitals outside of Jackson [Miss.] to perform vertebroplasty procedures for compression fractures in the spine caused by osteoporosis or cancer, Lassiter says. Baptist Golden Triangle is proud to offer comprehensive surgical services in almost every medical specialty.
Story by Kevin Litwin
