Students tested their skill using a next generation da Vinci® surgical robot
PORT JEFFERSON, NY – Students from four local robotics teams got a surgeon’s view as they tested their skill at operating a next generation da Vinci® surgical robot in Mather Hospital’s Great Robotic Challenge. The event was part of the hospital’s marking its milestone 10,000th robotic surgery.
Teams from Longwood, Smithtown, Miller Place and a combined Port Jefferson-Mount Sinai team took turns sitting at the robot’s control panel as a surgeon would, viewing a high definition, 3D image of a “surgical” area. The task was to maneuver the robot’s arms to pick up rubber rings and place them on a series of cones. Longwood had the best overall score in the challenge.
Prior to the competition, Arif Ahmad, MD, Director of Mather Hospital’s Robotic Surgery Center of Excellence, gave a presentation on robotic surgery and its current and future uses, including telepresence. Telepresence with Intuitive Hub allows live sharing of a procedure, using two-way audio and video, enabling surgeons who are in another geographic location to observe and mentor colleagues during robotic-assisted surgeries in real time.
Mather Hospital is in the top 10% of hospitals on Long Island performing robotic surgery, using five da Vinci® surgical robots. The hospital, which was the first Robotic Surgery Center of Excellence in New York State and an Epicenter in Robotic Bariatric Surgery, has performed over 10,000 robotic surgeries since 2011, consistently investing in advanced technology and highly skilled surgeons.
The most common robotic surgeries at Mather are bariatric and general surgery, followed by gynecology, thoracic, and urology. Approximately 99% of our bariatric cases are performed robotically. The average length of stay for patients undergoing robotic surgery is two days.
About Mather Hospital
Mather Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high-quality health care services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion, respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather has twice earned the highest five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for outcomes, patient experience and process and has the prestigious Magnet® recognition three times from the
American Nurses Credentialing Center for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. The hospital was rated high performing by U.S. News & World Report 2024-2025 Best Hospitals rankings in gastroenterology & GI surgery; geriatrics; neurology & neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology & lung surgery; COPD; heart failure; hip fracture; kidney failure; leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma; and pneumonia. Mather also was named one of America’s 250 best hospitals for 2023, 2024 and 2025 by Healthgrades and in 2025 received Healthgrades’ Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ for the fifth consecutive year. The Leapfrog Group awarded Mather its 22nd top A grade for patient safety in the spring 2025 ratings. Our Graduate Medical Education program prepares physicians for future careers through Internal Medicine, Transitional Year, Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Psychiatry and Pharmacy residency programs and gastroenterology and hematology/oncology fellowships. For information about Mather Hospital, visit matherhospital.org or follow us @MatherHospital on Facebook.
About Northwell Health
Northwell is the largest not-for-profit health system in the Northeast, serving residents of New York and Connecticut with 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses and over 20,000 physicians. Northwell cares for more than three million people annually in the New York metro area, including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, western Connecticut and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Northwell is New York State’s largest private employer with over 104,000 employees – including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners and Nuvance Health Medical Practices – who are working to change health care for the better. Northwell is making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Northwell is training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.