At Swedish, a robotic surgery milestone

James Porter, M.D., the award-winning medical director for robotic surgery at Swedish First Hill, marked another major milestone in robotic surgery in February: to date Dr. Porter has completed some 5,000 surgical cases using the da Vinci robot at First Hill.

Dr. Porter is the most experienced surgeon using the da Vinci robotic system in the Pacific Northwest and one of the top five practitioners in the nation, specializing in prostate, kidney cancer and urinary constructive procedures. He also serves as the medical director for robotic surgery at Swedish Urology First Hill and directs the Robotic and Laparoscopic Fellowship in Urology at Swedish. In addition, Dr. Porter is director of robotics for Providence Health and Services. His contributions to the field of urologic surgery include the advancement of several groundbreaking surgical techniques employed to treat kidney tumors and testicular cancer in young men. 

“The 5000-case milestone is the culmination of 20 years of work with the da Vinci robot starting in 2003. It involved treating patients with urologic cancer including prostate, kidney and testicular cancer,” says Dr. Porter. “I was fortunate to have great support from Swedish to grow my robotics practice and work with amazing people here in the operating room. Robotic surgery is not one person: it is a team sport and I have been blessed to have a great team along this journey.”

Dr. Porter’s work has been central to putting Swedish on the map and solidify our reputation as a leader in robotic surgery. In addition to treating patients, he also continues to teach other urologic surgeons innovative robotic surgical techniques. The entire Swedish community congratulates Dr. Porter on this remarkable achievement.