Press Releases

NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Holds Ribbon-Cutting for New State-of-the-Art Da Vinci Surgical Robot to Enhance Surgical, Inpatient and Ambulatory Care Departments

“Quincy Queens” will perform minimally invasive robotic surgery that increases precision and accuracy, resulting in less pain and faster recovery times for patients

Queens Hospital projects it will complete more than 300 robotic cases in 2024 alone

Feb 01, 2024

Queens, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens today announced that it has enhanced its surgical capabilities with the acquisition of the highly advanced da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, which it shared with the community through a demonstration.  Inaugurated with the name “Quincy Queens,” the new da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is expected to expand surgical care and improve patient outcomes and experience at Queens Hospital.

Since December, the hospital has begun performing minimally invasive robotic surgery with the da Vinci Surgical System in the areas of gynecology (11 operations thus far) and urology (3 operations), with general surgery to begin in early spring.  The new surgical option builds on the hospital’s greater strategic vision of enhancing its surgical, inpatient and ambulatory care departments to further improve patient experience and clinical outcomes. Queens Hospital projects it will complete more than 300 robotic cases in 2024 alone.

“The addition of our new da Vinci Robot, Quincy Queens, represents a true technological milestone in the way we deliver care to our patients,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Chief Executive Officer Neil J. Moore, MBA, MPA, FACHE. “Our patients will be able to experience minimal incision scarring, reduced pain and discomfort, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery times. The arrival of robotic surgery at Queens Hospital allows us to continue our commitment to the very best care for our patients, providing our community with tomorrow’s technology today.”

“I am extremely excited about the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System at Queens,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Chief Nursing Officer Abbi-Gail Baboolal, DNP, FNP, MSN, APRN. “Our peri-op nursing team has been diligently preparing for their expanded clinical roles in cutting-edge technological advancement.  Quincy, our da Vinci Robotic system which is located in OR #4, provides the precision we need for treating our patients with an inherent component of artificial intelligence (AI).  The participation, collaboration and team spirit at Queens combine to make this technology our choice surgical approach for enhanced quality care and patient satisfaction, with decreased length-of-stays which can contribute to reduced healing time as compared with traditional surgery.”       

“With the arrival of the new da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, I am thrilled that Queens can now deliver this advanced surgical capability to our patients,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Chief of Surgery James O’Connor, MD, FACS, FASCRS. “Robotic surgery will allow our surgeons to view tissue and organs magnified up to ten times, and there will be less need for medication to manage pain and increased overall comfort for our patients. We look forward to performing many more minimally invasive surgeries for complex diseases and conditions in gynecology, urology, thoracic and other disciplines, knowing that we are providing the most advanced patient care to a community that needs it most.”

“The da Vinci Robotic System will enable us to introduce the most innovative and comprehensive surgical care to the southeast Queens community,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Chief of OB-GYN Service Mohamed Ghafar, MD, FACOG, FACS, who was the first to perform surgery using the new robot at Queens. “Robotic surgery is indeed the wave of the future, and I am confident that improving our patients’ hospital experience will lead to the betterment of their quality of life.”

A class of students from neighboring Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School, located on the hospital campus, attended the ribbon-cutting and observed a demonstration of the new Quincy Queens robotic system in action, as performed by Dr. Ghafar and Mary Philip, RN, MS, Director of Nursing/Perioperative Service.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens is the tenth facility in the public health system equipped with the da Vinci Robotic System. Currently, da Vinci robotic surgery is also available at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, Elmhurst, South Brooklyn Health, and Kings County, among others.

For more information about surgical care services and the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, please call the hospital’s Robotic Hotline at (718) 883-4BOT (4268).

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About NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
A member of NYC Health and Hospitals, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens is a major health care provider in the borough of Queens. Its foremost mission is to provide quality, comprehensive care to all members of the public regardless of their ability to pay. The year 2015 marked its 80th anniversary of serving the communities of central and southeastern Queens, having first opened its doors as Queens General Hospital in 1935. Encompassing 360,000 square feet, it comprises 253 licensed beds, spacious ambulatory care suites featuring both primary and specialty services, and cutting-edge equipment. It also houses four Centers of Excellence: Cancer Care, Diabetes Management, Women’s Health, and Behavioral Health.  The hospital has recently added a fully expanded Emergency Room, a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence accredited by the American College of Radiology, and a Total Hip and Knee Replacement Center, with plans underway to build the Health System’s first Dialysis Center to train patients to perform their own at-home dialysis.  To learn more about NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, visit https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/queens/.

About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to more than one million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city’s five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.