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April 29, 2008

Nylens Fund Purchase of da Vinci Surgical Robot for Mercy

$1.53 Million Gift is Largest in Hospital’s History

A $1.53 million gift from Mark and Mary Ellen Nylen to the Mercy Campaign for Siouxland has allowed Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City to purchase a da Vinci surgical robot.

The Nylen’s cash contribution – which is the single largest philanthropic gift in the hospital’s 117-year history – will make the high-tech surgical robot available in the Sioux City area for the first time. Mercy’s ongoing fundraising effort also seeks to build a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a cardiac electrophysiology lab at Mercy.

“This extraordinary gift illustrates the Nylen’s selfless dedication to advancing medical care for all of Siouxland, said Paul Dougherty, Mercy’s president and CEO. “Mark and Mary Ellen’s generosity represents the same kind of servant leadership and community devotion reflected in Mercy’s long-standing mission.”

“This gift will have a profound impact on the lives of many, and on the community as a whole,” Dougherty added.

The da Vinci is the most well-known and widely applicable surgical robot in use today, according to Dr. Gregg Galloway, a Mercy pathologist, board member, and one of the four chairpersons for the capital campaign.

“Its predominant uses are for urological and gynecological surgical cases, but there are other future applications, as well,” Galloway explained. “This technology is currently not available in the Sioux City area, but it is available regionally. As many as 150 Siouxland patients travel outside of the Sioux City area each year for da Vinci surgical procedures. That creates an added burden for those patients and their families who have to leave the area for treatment.”

“We had hoped to have a da Vinci surgical robot in service in Sioux City some time shortly after the formal conclusion of the Mercy Campaign for Siouxland. However, thanks to the generous gift from the Nylens, a new surgical robot has already arrived at Mercy. We will be able to offer robotic surgical procedures sooner rather than later,” Galloway added.

In presenting the $1.53 million cash donation to Mercy, Mark Nylen said he and his wife, Mary Ellen, “are committed to making better technology that affects the lives, treatment and ultimate recovery for a host of surgical procedures not currently performed in Sioux City available for the community.”

“We know that the recovery for some surgical indications using this surgical platform will occur faster and also will, as a result, benefit patients for their every day quality of life,” he added. “We are very grateful to be able to accelerate the procurement and utilization of the da Vinci robot here in Siouxland.”

Previously, a $500,000 gift from the Nylens in November 2006 fully backed a major Mercy initiative to protect as many young women as possible from cervical cancer by ensuring they have access to the new vaccine Gardasil, which protects young women from four strains of the human papillomarvirus (HPV), including the two strains responsible for about 70% of all cervical cancer cases. Hundreds of young women who otherwise would not have been able to afford the series of three vaccinations have benefitted from that program, according to Mercy officials.

Several area physicians are trained in the use of the da Vinci surgical robot at Mercy, the only area hospital where the technology will be available.

Robotic surgery is similar to laparoscopic surgery in that it is minimally invasive. It offers the added benefit of enhancing the surgeon’s sensory skills through magnified, 3-D high-resolution imaging and intuitive and ergonomic motions that eliminate hand tremors, improve precision and dexterity, and facilitate the management of multiple tasks.

The benefits to patients include reductions in blood loss, risk of infection, length of hospital stay, post-operative pain and discomfort, and scarring, all of which quicken recovery time, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce hospital costs.

Titled “Your Community, Your Health, Your Hospital: The Mercy Campaign for Siouxland,” the $15 million fundraising effort is the first major capital campaign undertaken by the medical center in its history. Drs. Diane Werth and Allan Manalan, and Carla and Dr. Gregg Galloway are the chairpersons for the campaign. Community Leader and BPI Executive Vice President Regina Roth is the honorary chair for the campaign. A cabinet of about 50 volunteers is working on the fundraising drive, which is being overseen by the Mercy Medical Center Foundation.

“We are in the mid- to final phase of the campaign,” Galloway acknowledged. “However, we are presently trying to recruit grateful patients to bring us to our campaign goal.”

Community members interested in learning more about the Mercy Campaign for Siouxland, are asked to contact Lea Clausen, the executive director of the Mercy Medical Center Foundation at (712) 279-2475.