Kootenai | Kootenai Health | Issue 4, 2019

Colleagues at dinner: Representatives from Mountain West Bank and Ironwood Family Practice Placing their bids: Drs. Brenna McCrummen and Rebecca Siemers participate in the Gala’s live auction. Festive friends: back row, from left, Brenda Spangenberg and Debbie Michalak; middle row, from left, Diane Lawrence, Sue Berg and Suzy Jolley; seated, Likiya Nelson emergency services, new cancer centers, women’s and children’s services, cardiac care, expanding the hospital facilities, and so much more. Connie Moering, the office administrator for Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics, has been involved with Festival of Trees for about seven years. Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics has volunteered with the Festival since its inception. “I love supporting the hospital and the community in this way—it is a very festive, fun event!” Connie said. “I have enlisted the help of my daughter and grandchildren too. I have enjoyed encouraging them to look outside of themselves and to volunteer for a special cause. I look forward to many more years of volunteering in this great community event.” Come see the joy, merriment and wonder of the Kootenai Health Foundation’s Festival of Trees at The Coeur d’Alene Resort from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2. On theWish List: A New daVinci Surgical Robot The beneficiary of the Kootenai Health Foundation’s 2019 Festival of Trees is Kootenai Health’s robotic surgery program. A $2.3 million da Vinci Surgical Robot is needed to assist surgeons with complex and delicate procedures. Patients heal from robotic surgery faster, they experience less discomfort, and they’re in and out of the hospital more quickly than with traditional surgery. It’s also a much less invasive procedure that causes less scarring. Kootenai Health bought its first surgical robot in 2008 and performed 35 procedures the last three months of that year. That robot was replaced in 2016 with the newest generation of the technology, which allowed new surgical specialties to participate in the robotic program. In 2017, 216 procedures were performed. In 2018, that number almost doubled to 415. The demand has grown, and now patients are waiting up to four months to be scheduled for robotic surgery. It’s important to Kootenai Health to provide access to this type of surgery for our patients so they don’t have to leave Idaho for care. In the first eight years of the robotics program, more than 1,000 patients benefited from this technology. With an additional surgical robot, Kootenai Health could provide this incredible service to at least 1,000 patients every year. KH . ORG 21