LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery to be Established in NY-Presbyterian Hospital

Tagged: America, daVinci surgical robot, Dr. Ash Tewari, Medical Tourism, New York, NY-Presbyterian Hospital, Prostate cancer, Robotic Surgery

A Center for robotic surgery will be established in the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, funded by the $3 million gift from the Richard S. and Karen LeFrak Charitable Foundation. The center will specialize in robotic surgery focusing on prostate cancer other urologic medical cases.  The center will also support research on robotic surgery and the training of surgeons in various techniques in robotic surgery.

The $3 million donation will be used to purchase a daVinci surgical robot created by the company C. 

Dr. Ash Tewari, a world-renowned urologic surgeon, will head the new robotic surgery center. Dr. Ash Tewari joined the NY-Presbyterian Hospital in 2004.  He graduated with a degree in Medicine from the GSVM Medical College in Kanpur, India. He has received extensive training in urology in both India and the US. Since being part of the NY-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital Tewari has performed over 2,000 robotic surgeries for prostate cancer.  Tewari has also helped develop and improve techniques for robotic surgeries for prostate diseases that have helped reduce the risks of surgery. Robotic surgery has many advantages over conventional prostate surgeries because it involves reduced blood loss, shorter hospital stay and the low risk of impotency. The robotic surgery is also less painful and provides for the early restoration of urinary functions.

Prostate cancer is one of the leading diseases affecting American men, with close to 200,000 patients diagnosed with the disease in 2008. More than 20,000 died of the disease in the US last year. The center will hopefully help improve the statistics.