UCSF Health Reaches 25,000 Robotic Surgeries
The health system’s new robotic devices and expanded offerings, place UCSF at the forefront of innovation in the use of robotic surgical technology.
Surgeons at the UC San Francisco have performed over 25,000 robotically assisted minimally invasive surgeries, making it the first University of California health center to reach this milestone. UCSF Health has the busiest robotic surgery program in the UC Health system and is one of the leading academic medical institutions for robotic surgeries in the Western U.S.
“We have been able to reach this milestone of 25,000 robotically assisted surgeries thanks to UCSF Health’s commitment to expanding our robotic-assisted surgery program,” said Johannes Kratz, MD, chief of UCSF’s Division of Thoracic Surgery and medical director of UCSF’s robotic surgery program. “The breadth of our services and inventory of technology, as well as our commitment to training surgeons and research in the area of robotically assisted surgery, translates into better outcomes for patients.”
Only a few facilities on the West Coast have the number of robots and robotically trained surgeons as UCSF Health. In 2025, UCSF surgeons performed more than 3,000 robotic procedures, and the health system is on pace for 4,000 robotic procedures in 2026. With dedicated robotic operating rooms at five UCSF campuses, and 87 UCSF surgeons doing robotic procedures in 18 specialties already, UCSF plans to add another robotic surgery operating room this fall at its UCSF Stanyan hospital.
The UCSF robotic surgery program continues to grow with the addition of new advanced equipment and upgrades to its existing surgical robots. In addition to an existing fleet of da Vinci Xi, da Vinci SP, Ion bronchoscopes, Mazor X spine, and Mako arthroplasty robotic systems, the program is adding eight da Vinci 5 systems.
For surgeons, the robotic systems improve visualization of the surgical field through 10 times magnification in 3D and enhances dexterity for manipulation and dissection of tissue with greater precision. While surgeons guide the robotic arms and movements of the surgical instruments, the da Vinci 5 platform adds greater sensitivity with force sensing instrumentation.
“One of the big technological advances of dV5 is haptic feedback, which allows surgeons for the first time to actually feel what the robotic hands are feeling inside the chest,” said Kratz. “If there is resistance during the movement, surgeons will be able to feel that in their hands and not just see it on the screen. It adds an extra level of safety to the surgery.”
Training the next generation of nurses, residents, medical students
Robotic surgeries currently being performed at UCSF encompass a wide range of specialties and procedures, including removing cancerous tissue from the lungs, uterus, ovaries, colon, rectum, esophagus, bladder, prostate, head and neck, liver, and pancreas. Other robotic surgeries are used for treating uterine fibroids, endometriosis, hysterectomy, and doing female pelvic organ prolapse repairs, hernia repairs, and bariatric surgery. Earlier this year, the medical center added a PROCEPT BioRobotics HYDROS robot to bring new technology in prostate health to UCSF patients.
UCSF Health also has a robotic donor nephrectomy program, a robotic sleeve gastrectomy program, and an outpatient robotic surgery program. Recently, the robotic surgery program added robotic kidney transplantation (implantation) as well as living donor hepatectomies.
“We were one of the first academic institutions in the Western U.S. to perform robotic surgery, and we stay very up-to-date and are always incorporating the latest robotic technologies,” said Kratz. “Our excellent outcomes in robotic surgery reflect the experience and excellence of our team and our desire to make recovery easier, safer, and faster for our patients.”
In addition to investing in new technology and surgeon training, UCSF Health’s commitment to a multidisciplinary, team-based approach to robotic surgery ensures that nursing education, training, and competencies evolve alongside technical advances to support operational flow, patient safety, and quality in operating rooms. UCSF is also incorporating residents and medical students into this education to prepare the next generation of clinicians to use these technologies safely and effectively while maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is among the nation’s best hospitals, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland; two community hospitals, UCSF Health St. Mary’s and UCSF Health Saint Francis; Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital; UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians; and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit www.ucsfhealth.org. Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on LinkedIn.