PeaceHealth seeks state approval for $7 million robotic surgery project in Ketchikan

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center has asked the state for permission to buy robotic surgical systems and related operating room equipment, according to an Alaska Department of Health notice of receipt dated Friday. The $6.97 million project would bring robot-assisted, minimally invasive surgery to orthopedics, gastroenterology, urology, gynecology and general surgery at the hospital, with completion estimated by May 1, 2027.

The filing is a certificate of need application, a state review required before major spending of $1.5 million or more on a health care facility. The state has not yet declared the application complete, and public comment has not opened. Anyone planning a similar project in the same service area has until 4:30 pm Nov. 30 to file a letter of intent so the state can review the applications together.

Federal money would cover the project. The state project record says PeaceHealth is using a federal grant award, and the state's Rural Health Transformation awards list shows the same $6.97 million figure, labeled preliminary. Its guidance says equipment costs are subject to federal review and approval, and first-year money unspent by Sept. 30, 2027, is subject to federal recapture and redistribution.

The state project record says PeaceHealth proposes to "establish the first robotic-assisted, minimally invasive surgical capability in rural Southern Southeast Alaska." The awards list says the equipment would "reduce out-of-area referrals" for patients in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Petersburg Borough, the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area and Wrangell.

At the hospital's Oct. 22 Healthcare Advisory Committee meeting, answering the mayor's questions about recruitment, Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Cook tied the robot to one recruit. "We have a wonderful general surgeon that grew up here that we would like to recruit to come here, but his request was to have a robot," Cook said. She said recruits often ask about caseload, and "sometimes our volumes aren't as high as what they would like."

The hospital's fiscal 2026 report card lists 1,861 general surgery cases, up from 1,646 the year before, and 426 orthopedic cases, down from 574. Visiting specialist clinics logged 303 gastroenterology and 1,020 urology visits. The hospital recruited two per diem general surgeons and two per diem OB/GYN physicians during the year. The city's lease with PeaceHealth requires it to actively recruit surgeons and specialists to practice full time "where supported by a full-time demand."

The request is separate from PeaceHealth's emergency department remodel and its laboratory relocation and expansion, which the state told PeaceHealth on July 10, 2025, would need a certificate of need. The state's database shows no application yet for either project.

Once the state deems the robotic surgery application complete, it will issue a second notice explaining how to comment and where to read the application. State guidance allows 30 days for public comment and a public meeting 15 to 30 days after that notice.