New Member to the Surgical Team and a Milestone

During my time at Mercy Health - St. Rita's Medical Center, I had to write about two stories involving robotic surgeries. One about adding a robot to the surgical team and one about the 1,000 robotic surgery procedure.
Mercy Heath – Tiffin Hospital added a new member to the surgical team this summer, The Robot! there was a special event where one could interact with Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital’s first surgical robot and learn more about how robotic-assisted surgery is improving patient outcomes. Robotic-assisted surgery was developed to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical procedures and to enhance the capabilities of surgeons performing open surgery. Due to robotic use, the surgery is done with precision, miniaturization, smaller incisions; decreased blood loss, less pain and quicker healing time. Articulation beyond normal manipulation and three-dimensional magnification helps resulting in improved ergonomics. Compared with other minimally invasive surgery approaches, robot-assisted surgery gives the surgeon better control over the surgical instruments and a better view of the surgical site. In addition, surgeons no longer have to stand throughout the surgery and do not tire as quickly. Naturally occurring hand tremors are filtered out by the robot's computer software. Finally, the surgical robot can continuously be used by rotating surgery teams.
Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center congratulated Jason Bowersock, MD, FACS, on completing 1,000 surgeries at St. Rita’s using the most advanced robotic surgical techniques this summer. Jason joined this elite group of surgeons when he completed his 1,000th successful robotic surgery in July. Dr. Bowersock is a Board Certified General Surgeon who specializes in colorectal, hernias, bariatric, and a variety of other general surgeries. Dr. Bowersock is among the region’s leading surgeons using the most advanced daVinci® technology at St. Rita’s Robotic Surgery Center, the first hospital in the region to use this surgical system. Instead of more invasive, traditional open or laparoscopic surgery, the daVinci® Surgical System allows our surgeons to skillfully perform surgical procedures with smaller incisions, surgical procedures that involve smaller incisions, less scarring and shorter recovery times. Dr. Bowersock is the Trauma Medical Director; Chief of Division of General Surgery and Director of Bariatrics at Mercy Health - St. Rita's Medical Center. He was trained on the daVinci® surgical robot in 2012 and performed St. Rita's first robotic surgery on May 23.