- Robotics-assisted surgeries perform urologic and gynecological procedures with less blood, scarring and risk of infection.
- HCA Palms West already performs about 1,200 robotics-assisted surgeries per year, an average of three or four every day.
- The hospital's CEO says the move will allow the hospital to become an international destination for people in need of such procedures.
ROYAL PALM BEACH — HCA Palms West Hospital will build a five-story tower along Southern Boulevard in the hope of becoming an international destination for robotics-assisted surgery.
The investment will allow the hospital to specialize even further in the emerging technology, which allows for smaller incisions and faster recoveries, said Jason Kimbrell, the hospital's CEO.
"This is our next chapter," Kimbrell said. "In the long-term, we want patients to come from around the county and the world to undergo robotic-assisted surgery here."
The modern building will be one of the tallest in the Wellington-Royal Palm Beach area and the first building on Palms West's campus, whose footprint will touch Southern Boulevard.
It also will honor the legacy of Mike Pugh, Palms West's first CEO, who championed the opening of the hospital's OB-GYN unit in 1989. Palms West today is home to the only full-service women's and children's center in the western communities.
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HCA Palms West already is a leader in robotics surgery in South Florida. Over 1,200 of these procedures are performed every year at HCA Palms West, an average of three or four each day. The hospital has had over 20,000 robotic surgeries since 2010.
In 2022, HCA Palms West became the first hospital in Palm Beach County to be accredited by the nonprofit group Surgical Review Corp. as a center of excellence in robotic surgery.
The center employs 22 robotics-assisted surgeons who operate Da Vinci machines, a robotics system with four interactive arms and a high-resolution 3D camera. The surgeons share six consoles at which they perform minimally invasive procedures involving less blood, less scaring, a reduced risk of infection and faster patient recovery.
Surgeons sit in front of the consoles and fit their fingers into sensors that translate their movements to the arms holding miniaturized instruments that move inside the patient with more precision than the human hand.
HCA Palms West uses robotics-assisted for general, thoracic and orthopedic, gynecologic and urologic procedures that include:
- Urologic: Prostate cancer, Bladder and kidney cancer, Vesicoureteral reflux.
- Gynecologic: Cancers of the cervix, ovaries and uterus, Endometriosis, Ovarian masses and Uterine fibroids.
- Cholecystectomy, Colorectal surgery and Hernia repair.
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Tower will honor Mike Pugh, HCA Palms West's founding CEO
The five-story, budgeted at $80 million and scheduled to open in 2027, will include 36 beds for patient recovery. It will also feature a separate entrance, a gift shop, a community education space, classroom, a coffee shop and a cafeteria.
It's a far cry from the scene Pugh saw in March 1984, when he drove his son Eric, then 14, to the middle of a densely forested lot just outside Wellington. Back then, the area had dirt roads flanked by cow pastures and was "a wild, natural Florida habitat," Eric said.
Mike drove past the trees, deep into the middle of the woods, parked the car and turned to his son.
"In a couple of years, there is going to be a hospital here," Eric recalls. "I was like, 'Wow. I can't believe that.' "
Mike, who served 20 years in the Army, was working in Huntsville, Alabama, when he got an offer to oversee the opening of the first hospital in western Palm Beach County.
He relocated with his wife and two sons to Wellington and began assembling the hospital's medical personnel and staff from an on-site shed where engineers discussed blueprints. In 1986, Mike opened Palms West Hospital. Over the next 10 years, he saw a boom of residents and businesses transform the sleepy, rural area into busy suburbs.
"In the early years, there was such little population that if he had 20 beds filled it was a good day," Eric said. "The population growth over the years made the hospital a success because it eventually had more business."
In 1989, Mike launched the OB-GYN department, making Palms West the first hospital in the western communities where women could deliver their babies.
Archives describe Mike as an energetic leader, who always went out of his way to make conversation or share a joke. Growing up in Wellington, Eric says people always stopped him to offer anecdotes about his dad. When Mike retired in 1997, over 300 people from doctors, nurses, and staff showed up to his farewell party.
"He was like Elvis Presley in that hospital," Eric says between laughs. "It was a huge celebration and a testament to how widely loved my dad was among all the people."
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Over the last five years, HCA Palms West has invested millions to expand hospital departments to meet the demand of the growing population of Palm Beach County's western communities.
"When you look where the growth is happening, it's going west," said Kimbrell.
Kimbrell said the hospital had narrowed its focus on pediatrics, women's health, and specialized surgeries with robotic assistance.
Last year, HCA Palms West unveiled a $6 million 18-bed, Level-3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a $16 million pediatric and adult emergency room expansion, and a $22 million operating center.
Kimbrell and Mike met last month for the first time. Kimbrell walked him outside to the middle of Palms West's packed parking lot, stopped between two cars and turned to Mike.
"In a couple of years, right over here, we will have a five-floor tower for the hospital," Kimbrell said. "And, none of it would've been possible without your legacy."
"Five floors?" Mike asked with a laugh. "Wow. I can't believe that."
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her atvpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism:Subscribe today.
