Mountain State Times

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), announced a funding award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to Boone Memorial Hospital, Inc. to support its procurement and installation of robotic surgery equipment.

This award was secured through a Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) request made by Senator Capito in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). The funds will be used to procure and install state-of-the-art robotic surgery equipment like the da Vinci Xi Single System to improve patient care locally.

“I was proud to advocate for- and help secure this funding that will bring the best possible surgical tools to Boone Memorial Hospital,” Ranking Member Capito said. “Acquiring advanced equipment for our rural hospitals can lead to greater ability to deliver the highest quality care to rural residents. This will also help make sure patients can get the treatments and surgeries they need, recover faster, and return to living their lives on their own terms.”

The $2,202,000 HHS CDS award aims to improve healthcare access for rural Americans living in southwestern West Virginia by providing advanced surgical procedures currently only available in urban settings. Boone Memorial Hospital serves a rural area of approximately 73,347 residents primarily in Boone, Logan, Lincoln, and southern Kanawha counties. In 2022 alone, BMH performed over 4,000 surgical procedures on approximately 2,219 rural patients.

The purchase and installation of the da Vinci Xi Single System could double the number of surgical procedures performed at BMH. This would allow rural patients access to more complex procedures closer to home with quicker recovery times so they can return to work sooner. Utilizing a Da Vinci robot for surgical procedures results in less pain, quicker recovery times, shorter hospital stays, and a decreased chance of infection.

Additionally, this project is expected to create 25 direct jobs in Madison for surgery technicians, Operating Room (OR) technicians, advanced practice providers, and Registered Nurses (RNs).