Stephen Buckley, MD, scrubs in to complete his 2000th robotic surgery with the da Vinci® Surgical System

When women are met with an unexpected life-changing cancer diagnosis, Stephen Buckley, MD, a gynecologic oncology surgeon at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, encounters patients with unparalleled expertise and a deeply nurturing character.

On May 15, 2019, Dr. Buckley completed his 2000th surgery using the da Vinci® Surgical System, a robot that allows surgeons to convert traditionally open procedures, done with a large abdominal incision, to minimally invasive procedures.

“I was an early adopter of robotic technology,” explained Dr. Buckley, who completed his first robotic surgery with a model of the da Vinci system in 2006. “I knew this less invasive approach would allow women to avoid unnecessary pain, minimize complications and recover more quickly. So, I was all in from the beginning.”

The da Vinci Xi robot, the latest and most revolutionary technology of its kind,  is controlled exclusively by the surgeon whose hand movements are translated into extremely precise movements of micro-instruments within the surgery site.

 “Our focus is on ensuring patients can return to their families and their everyday activities as soon as possible,” said Debra Motycka, PA-C, who has played an integral role in Dr. Buckley’s robotic cases for nearly 15 years. With robotic surgery, patients shorten their hospital stay significantly and are often ready to go home the day after the procedure.

 “It’s a privilege to be able to offer surgical techniques that make a significant impact on healing during a vulnerable time for my patients,” said Dr. Buckley. “Our team of robotic surgeons at Baptist Health can offer a unique skill that help ease a patient’s experience with surgery.” 

Dr. Buckley embraced robotic technology as part of his unwavering dedication to providing the best experience for his patients, but he credits his adoption of robotic surgery to Baptist Health for investing in the multi-million dollar technology before many health systems in the country. Because of Dr. Buckley’s advocacy for the first da Vinci surgical system, pediatric patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville have also benefitted since 2006; pediatric urologist Michael Erhard, MD, with Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, Jacksonville, was the first to perform a robotic procedure on a child using the original da Vinci robot.

Today, with a total of 22 robots, Baptist Health has the most robust robotics program in Northeast Florida.

To standardize robotic procedures across the health system, Baptist Health most recently purchased three new da Vinci XI Surgical Systems for Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Baptist Medical Center Beaches and Baptist Medical Center South. Other robots include a Stryker Mako® for partial knee replacement, total knee replacement and total hip replacement; two Mazor Robotics Renaissance® Guidance Systems for minimally invasive spine surgery; and 12 Xenex Disinfection Services’ “germ-zapping” robots for sanitation.