Kootenai Health adds advanced da Vinci 5 surgery platform

Kootenai Health has put a $3 million-plus da Vinci 5 robotic surgery platform at the center of its push to keep more complex operations in Coeur d’Alene. The new system is the hospital’s third da Vinci robot, and leaders say it is meant to expand local specialty care, not just add another piece of high-tech equipment.

The health system unveiled the robot during an April 7-8 open house and unboxing event at its main campus. Kootenai Health said the da Vinci 5 went into active surgical use in May, making it the newest addition to a robotic surgery program that already included two earlier da Vinci systems.

That matters in North Idaho because the hospital said advanced procedures may increasingly be done locally rather than sending patients elsewhere for specialty surgery. Kootenai Health’s robotic program already spans urology, gynecology, cardiothoracic surgery and general surgery, giving it a wider role in the region’s care network as Kootenai County continues to grow.

The hospital also is trying to use the platform as a recruiting tool. Hospital leaders said advanced robotic systems can help attract surgeons who already train on them and can make local care more competitive with larger medical centers. Surgeon Cory Richardson said many patients assume they need to go to a major city for the newest medical techniques. Urologist Roxanne Haslam said the system can reduce complications from complex surgeries and shorten recovery time for patients.

Dr. Matt McLaughlin of North Idaho Urology said the new model feels more like a human wrist and gives surgeons a sense of tissue pressure during surgery. Dr. Kenneth Helal of Kootenai Health said he primarily uses the system for hysterectomies, underscoring how the robot is already tied to procedures that affect women’s health care in the region.

Kootenai Health said it holds a Robotic Surgery Center of Excellence designation from the Surgical Review Corporation, a nonprofit patient-safety organization that accredits facilities and surgeons that meet set standards for robotic surgery quality. That credential, along with the new machine, places Kootenai Health in a national race among hospitals adopting more sophisticated surgical tools.

Intuitive Surgical, based in Sunnyvale, California, says da Vinci 5 is its most advanced and integrated platform ever, with more than 150 design innovations, 10,000 times the computing power of earlier systems and force-feedback technology that lets surgeons feel the forces applied to tissue. Kootenai Health’s investment comes as it continues broader campus expansion, including the Prairie Medical Campus groundbreaking in March 2026, signaling a long-term bet that local demand for complex surgery will keep rising.