Advancements

AV

UHealth Surpasses 20,000 Robotic-Assisted Surgeries

3 min read  |  August 18, 2026  | 
A surgeon seated at a robotic surgical console operates a da Vinci surgical system in a clinical setting. The individual wears a surgical cap and scrubs while using hand controls and a viewing interface that enables minimally invasive robotic-assisted procedures.

CEO Highlights Major Milestone Across a Number of Specialties

UHealth—the University of Miami Health System has reached a major milestone in innovation and technology, surpassing more than 20,000 robotic-assisted surgeries.

“To me, that number symbolizes and signifies the deep trust that patients have put into the competence, the ability, the compassion, and the empathy of our physicians, along with their wonderful surgical skills to drive the best outcomes for them in the long run,” says Dipen Parekh, M.D., chief executive officer and director of robotic surgery at UHealth, executive vice president for health affairs at the University of Miami and founding director of Desai Sethi Urology Institute.

Dr. Parekh says the less-invasive technique has proven beneficial for patients. He led the RAZOR trial, published in the journal Lancet, comparing robotic surgery to open surgery for bladder cancer patients.

“It was the first trial that showed, and one of the only trials that actually in a multi-institutional setting showed, that robotic surgery was not only similar to open surgery in terms of the cancer outcomes for bladder cancer but had a lot of advantages in terms of reduced blood loss, reduced blood transfusions, decreased length of stay,” says Dr. Parekh.

This milestone is significant because it highlights the number of specialties using this technology across the health system, leading to faster and better outcomes for patients.

Professional portrait of Dr. Dipen Parekh in a white medical coat and surgical scrubs against a neutral gray background. The physician wears glasses and is pictured from the chest up in a studio-style headshot used for academic medicine and clinical leadership profiles.
Dr. Dipen J. Parekh

“Whether it is urology, whether it is colorectal surgery, whether it is thoracic surgery, whether it is orthopedic surgery, whether it is ENT, whether it is gynecology, across all specialties,” he explains.

And soon to be available across all of UHealth’s conveniently located satellite centers.

“We can actually provide a very high acute level of care through the robotic surgery, right where they are in a satellite location. And these patients typically go home on the same day or next day,” Dr. Parekh says. “So, it made sense for us to go to the community rather than the community come to us to serve them better.”

Dr. Parekh sees the future role of artificial intelligence when it comes to robotic surgery.

“I think it’s a matter of when, not if, that there will be autonomous surgery. But I also do believe there’ll always be a human in the loop, because human life is just absolutely too precious for us to leave everything just to technology.”

UHealth continues to lead the way in evidence-based academic medicine.

“The pure multidisciplinary setting, the collaboration that our teams have … one is going to get an absolute cutting-edge care that they cannot get anywhere else,” says Dr. Parekh.

Video transcript compiled by Janna Ross for ‘Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine,’ a series of healthcare-related stories airing regularly on ABC-Miami Channel 18.  For more stories like this one, visit UHealth’s YouTube channel.

Tags: artificial intelligence, Desai Sethi Urology Institute, Dr. Dipen J. Parekh, focusing on you, RAZOR trial, robotic surgery, surgery, technology in medicine

Continue Reading