Robotic Help

Oroville Hospital doctors employ high-tech surgical system

Ten years ago, during his surgical fellowship, Dr. Ravi Nagubandi got a glimpse of his future when he observed an early version of robot-assisted surgery.

Now he regularly performs operations using Oroville Hospital’s da Vinci SI Surgical System. Two other physicians also use the multimillion-dollar equipment, which came to the medical center in January, and others are lining up to get trained in the sophisticated, minimally invasive means of surgery.

Nagubandi has primarily used the da Vinci for gallbladder surgeries, but two weeks ago he branched out into colon surgery. Meanwhile, obstetrician/gynecologists Pamela Simons and Peter Bippart have used the da Vinci to perform hysterectomies.