“Best Surgeries, Best Surgeons, Best Outcomes”
Published Monday, May 12, 2025
Representatives from the Hospital's OR teams, Senior Leadership, and Foundation pose at a media preview showcasing the da Vinci Surgical System – a robotic system that gives surgeons more precision and control in surgeries.
Dr. Walid Shahrour Demonstrates What New da Vinci Robotic Surgery Means for Patient Care
by Graham Strong
It's hard not to hear the passion in Dr. Walid Shahrour's voice when he talks about the robotic surgery he helped bring to Thunder Bay. The urologist and surgeon performed the first surgery using the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System in November 2024. Between then and the end of April 2025, all surgeons combined at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre had completed about 80 surgeries.
But that's going to go way up as current surgeons using da Vinci get more comfortable with it and more surgeons train with it. Soon, da Vinci will be used for surgeries Monday to Friday.
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is the first of its kind in Northwestern Ontario and will allow patients at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre to receive advanced robotic surgery, closer to home.
“This has a huge impact on all of us (surgeons) for our patient care,” Dr. Shahrour said during the official unveiling of da Vinci to the public. “It's a helpful tool to give the best surgeries, best surgeons, and best outcomes to our patients.”
Best Surgeries
Traditional open surgery allows surgeons a clear view of the body during surgery, and then can freely use their hands to move, cut, and suture. Laproscopic surgery reduced recovery times and infection risk with smaller incisions for better outcomes. But 2D imaging and non-bending instruments – what Dr. Shahrour called “operating with chopsticks” – often meant relatively long, difficult procedures.
The da Vinci robotic system gives surgeons the best of both worlds. It is performed laproscopically, but the non-bending instruments are replaced by articulating instruments that can bend and swivel with greater range of precise motion. The 3D vision using imaging gives the surgeon depth perception, also just like with open surgery.
Dr. Shahrour demonstrated how fast and easily he could suture using the da Vinci.
“That would take much longer to do laproscopically,” when he finished a couple of minutes later.
Best Surgeons
The da Vinci robot is already becoming a recruitment tool.
“We are now getting surgeons from the US trying to come up here. I have a urologist in New Mexico emailing me – he wants to join us because we have everything,” he said.
“We should be proud of this. Before, it was harder to recruit people. But now, we're able to recruit top talent. They'll be able to provide the best for our patients, which is what they deserve.”
Best Outcomes
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System can improve outcomes and patient care. Dr. Shahrour talked about a patient facing a full kidney removal due to cancer.
“I told her, even using open surgery, her cancer was in a tricky place, and we would most likely need to take out the whole kidney,” Dr. Shahrour said.
Coincidentally, her surgery was scheduled for the second day after he had started using robotic surgery. Dr. Shahrour saw an opportunity to do this very difficult surgery with da Vinci. She consented – any chance to save the kidney was a good chance.
“With the technology, it was very easy. We preserved the whole kidney, and that was it – she went home the next day. And, instead of one kidney, she has two, which can help prevent in the future dialysis and renal failure.”
Overall, robotic surgery can lead to shorter hospital stays, shorter recovery times, lower risk of infection, and lower risk of pain.
The Hospital brought da Vinci to Thunder Bay on a pay-per-procedure basis, and donors to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation play a large part in supporting robotic surgery. Donations to the Foundation purchased several additional items to enhance the system including a new operating bed and two longer, specialized sterilizers for da Vinci's instruments.
Find out how you can support this cutting-edge tool at: www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/robot