New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“FALL RIVER, Mass. – This month, Southcoast Health orthopedic surgeon Christopher Skeehan, MD reached an impressive milestone performing his 500th robotic-assisted procedure with Mako technology.
The Mako robotic-arm assisted surgery is an innovative solution for orthopedic surgeons at Southcoast Health’s Charlton Memorial Hospital to help individuals suffering from painful arthritis of the knee or hip. It allows our doctors to perform surgeries that are safer, more accurate, and customized to each patient’s individual needs.
Southcoast Health photo.
“Joining Southcoast Health in 2021, this milestone reflects the work we have done to refine and perfect our workflow in the operating room,” said Dr. Skeehan. “Utilizing this innovative technology for almost every primary knee and hip replacement, we are ensuring that the procedure is consistent with small tweaks for each individual patients. This approach helps us deliver stable knees and hips that our patients can rely on every time, with a very low risk.”
During surgery, the Mako system guides the surgeon’s cuts within the pre-defined area and helps prevent the surgeon from moving outside the planned boundaries. This helps provide more accurate placement, reducing the risk of complications and limiting damage to any surrounding tissues, tendons and ligaments.
With the robotic assisted approach, patients are often able to recover much faster after knee and hip replacement procedures and get back to doing what they love.
About Southcoast Health
Founded in 1996, Southcoast Health serves communities across southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island as the largest provider of primary and specialty care in the region. The not-for-profit, charitable system includes three acute care hospitals – Charlton Memorial in Fall River, St. Luke’s in New Bedford (a Level II Trauma Center), and Tobey in Wareham, Massachusetts with a physician network of more than 675 providers.
The system has established more than 55 service locations across the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including six urgent care locations, a Visiting Nurse Association, the Southcoast Health Cancer Center, the region’s only Level II Adult Trauma Center and numerous ancillary facilities.
Southcoast Health has been recognized consecutively for five years in a row as a Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospital from 2019-2023 and named a Maternity Care Access Hospital for 2023-2024 by U.S. News & World Report. The organization was recognized as the best place to work for the sixth consecutive year by Southcoast Media Group’s community choice awards.
With upward of 7,500 employees, Southcoast Health is the largest employer in southeastern Massachusetts, and one of the largest employers in the Commonwealth, according to the Boston Business Journal. More information is available online at www.southcoast.org.”
