Braemar Hospital has invested in a multi-million dollar surgical robot – the first of its kind in the Waikato region.
Braemar Hospital is fully owned by Braemar Charitable Trust which works to ensure access to health for communities, through a variety of charitable activities including free surgeries for those in need.
The da Vinci Xi robot arrives at the hospital by the end of June and will be in use before the end of the year. Braemar Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in New Zealand, already has a robot that makes surgical cuts for knee surgery, but the da Vinci is a general surgery robot, bringing leading-edge surgical technology to the region.
The robot helps surgeons perform complex procedures as a minimally invasive alternative to traditional open surgery. It makes smaller incisions leading to less pain and scarring and has faster recovery times. The da Vinci system is used in various surgical specialties, including general, urological, gynaecological, and increasingly in thoracic and cardiac surgeries. There are currently eight da Vinci surgical robots in New Zealand – one at North Shore Hospital and the rest, in private hospitals.
Braemar Hospital Chief Executive Fiona Michel says: “Braemar Hospital’s purpose is to Make Lives Better, and we aspire to be New Zealand’s most innovative provider of surgical excellence. The robot investment is about more choices for our patients, and it will also play a part in supporting the attraction and retention of clinicians in Hamilton.
“As an independent, not-for-profit hospital, fully owned by the Braemar Charitable Trust, the purchase of a multi-million dollar da Vinci surgical robot represents a significant investment in, and commitment to our community.”
An intensive training programme for surgeons at Braemar will be implemented once the robot has arrived. Braemar Hospital has more than 200 credentialed surgeons and anaesthetists, some of whom have asked to be credentialed, so they can perform free community surgeries for Braemar Charitable Trust.
In the financial year ended 31 March 2025, the trust, with the help of surgeons and anaesthetists, enabled about 160 free surgeries for people who have been declined or face extensive wait times in the public system and have neither ACC, health insurance nor the financial means to fund private surgery.
Braemar Charitable Trust Manager Paula Baker says the trust has five pillars in its charitable purpose, one of which includes its ownership of Braemar Hospital. The other four pillars are providing free surgeries through the Community Surgery programme; collaborating for better health outcomes; growing the medical workforce and their knowledge and skills; contributing to research that builds medical knowledge and supports the Trust’s vision of advancing healthcare equity and access. A portion of all hospital fees go to the Trust in the form of an annual dividend, to enable the Trust to continue its charitable work.
“We are fully supportive of the hospital’s investment in the da Vinci surgical robot. Braemar Hospital is at the forefront of surgical excellence in our region and this is another example of the leading-edge technology to be found at Braemar.”
Braemar Charitable Trust has also made it simple for anyone to donate to its work via a new online donations portal where donors can choose to fund a specific procedure (including minor plastics surgeries for skin lesions) or make donations towards a general fund, scholarship or research. To find out more, sign up here for news and updates
