As the Victoria Hospitals Foundation continues its campaign to fund new, innovative surgical equipment, Royal Jubilee Hospital's new Da Vinci surgical robot is gearing up to deliver surgeries.

The four-armed machine features a tiny camera alongside other tools expected to enhance accuracy, dexterity and control during complex procedures.

"We have all sorts of [technologies] that we can use through our instruments to minimize the amount of bleeding, and it's been shown that using this technology really reduces the risk of blood transfusion as well as the risk of postoperative complications," said Dr. Jeff McCracken, chief of urology at Royal Jubilee Hospital and Victoria General Hospital.

Royal Jubilee is now the 16th hospital in Canada to have a surgical robot.

Along with the robot itself, there is also a video tower and surgeon's console to allow surgeons to remotely control the robot's arms. It allows for more accuracy, especially when they work with small incisions.

"This is basically what we need to do surgery through keyholes, and we can reach just about any part of the abdomen with really quick recovery times and extreme precision," said McCracken, who has been training with surgical robots since the late 2000s.

The robot will start with urology surgeries in February, and then general surgeries in April. In the Summer, it will start gynaecology, oncology and thoracic surgery.

"The robot now has intelligence built into it, so as it moves in towards the patient, it can sense where the patient's body is located, it can sense where the target anatomy is, and it knows what surgery you're gonna do because you programmed that in," he said.

"The future is now, indeed."

As part of the hospital foundation's It's Time For Surgical Innovation campaign, the robot was funded with the help of 2,100 donors. Over the past three months, the campaign has raised $11 million of its $17 million goal.

In addition to the robot, the associate director of philanthropy for the foundation, Colleen Bronson, says the rest of the funding will go towards more priority technologies, including a radiation-free treatment method for breast cancer and new procedures for prostate biopsies.

"We wanted to do more than just replace existing pieces of equipment, but we wanted to bring new procedures here to the island that weren't available to patients [before] so they would have had to travel to Vancouver or at times pay out of pocket and travel outside of the province or country to get these treatments," said Bronson.

Bronson thanked all the donors and supporters of the campaign and noted the foundation will holda gala in May to further fundraise for the campaign.