URBANA — Patients can now go to either Urbana hospital for the minimally-invasive urology and gynecology procedures done with a robotic surgical system some doctors prefer to use.

Provena Covenant Medical Center purchased a da Vinci surgical system earlier this month for $1.5 million, and Carle has had one since 2008.

Dr. Michael Smith, a Christie Clinic obstetrician/gynecologist, says he's been doing hysterectomies with this equipment at Carle, and Covenant's investment will benefit those patients who don't have insurance coverage at Carle.

"Now we have the option of choice," he said.

Doctors operate with the robot-assisted da Vinci system by placing their hands on the master controls and guiding the tiny robotic arms that begin suspended over the patient. Tiny cameras inside the patient's body give doctors a three-dimensional, high-definition picture of what's going on inside.

The advantage of operating this way, say doctors who have used this system, is that it gives them greater dexterity and control than their own human hands allow.

Patients tend to experience less pain, fewer complications, less blood loss and a lower risk of infection than after traditional surgery, Smith said.

Mike Brown, Provena's regional CEO, said he hopes to see the new robot-assisted system put to use regionally at Covenant for urology, gynecology and some general surgery uses.

Carle began using the da Vinci system for urology procedures in 2008, and in 2009 added gynecology surgeries.

Carle now has 11 doctors on staff using the da Vinci system, and it's been used it for 529 procedures, including procedures to remove part or all of the prostate gland and kidney, abdominal and vaginal hysterectomies and removal of uterine fibroids, according to Carle spokesman Sean Williams.

Provena's equipment is the latest version that will also allow doctors to practice their skills on it in a virtual setting, Brown said.

While there are some robotic surgery capabilities — such as cardiac valve surgery — that Covenant can't offer with this new equipment, Brown said, he looks for it to have a lot of applications moving forward.

"We intend to run a complete service line around this," he said. "It won't be just a piece of equipment in our operating rooms. For Smith, this surgical system is the preferred way to go for minimally invasive hysterectomies because its success rate is higher than the other minimally invasive method, laparoscopy, he says.

Some 25 percent of hysterectomies done via laparoscopy wind up completed by open surgery due to complications, compared to 3 percent to 5 percent of those done with the da Vinci system, he said.

Smith said two of his colleagues at Christie Clinic, Dr. Sarah Young and Dr. Keith Haug, are also doing gynecology surgeries with the da Vinci system.