When Dr. James J. Purdy thinks about the advances he’s seen during his decades of practicing medicine, his attention turns to the heavens.

“All of our modern advancements are a result of going to the moon,” Purdy said. “Not because it was all new, but because it had to be miniaturized.”

Landing on the moon in 1969 brought a new wave a technology and shrunk it to fit in the palm of a hand. Today, Purdy, Meridian doctor, can use the hulking daVinci Surgical System, that looks like a small shed, to control tiny sets of surgical arms with the aid of an advanced camera that enables Purdy to see blood vessels that would be invisible to the naked eye.

None of that would be possible without the moon landing, Purdy said.

“We went to the moon with the computer capability of an early Apple,” Purdy said, naming the iconic computer brand. “All of that laid the ground stage for what was to come.”

Using the daVinci, Purdy, the medical director of the Robotic Surgery Program at Rush Foundation Hospital, performs hysterectomies and other gynecological surgeries that are minimally invasive and easier on patients.

Purdy performed the first daVinci-assisted hysterectomy in the state at Rush on Dec. 9, 2008, estimating he’d had 3,700 cases since that day.

“I love it when I make rounds in the morning (and) I see (patients) walking and relatives are telling them, ‘Don’t!’ or ‘Take it easy!’” Purdy said. “And I tell them that they can resume their lifestyle (immediately).”

In addition, the daVinci surgery minimizing blood loss with smaller sutures and decreasing the chance of infection, doctors now recommended patients resume normal life rather than avoid physical activity.

Rather than contorting into odd angles to peer into the patient’s body, physicians reduce their strain by manipulating the controls of the daVinci with their hands and feet. The daVinci also has built-in safety measures to protect the patient and correct movements, for example, if the doctor sneezes and makes a jerky motion.

“It’s nice to say that all of the members of our department are robotically trained,” said Purdy, who travels the country training other surgeons on the daVinci. “With a properly trained surgeon and operating room crew, it’s a very safe procedure.”

Minor technological improvements, such as better illumination, faster uplink times or advanced cameras, come out regularly but Purdy saw an opportunity for remote robotic surgery using these tools.

“You can dial into a place that does not have the ability to have that surgeon but maybe they can get the equipment,” Purdy said. “And then you can match a surgeon at a remote, controlled unit.”

Anderson connects with UMMC

At Anderson Regional Health System, the focus has been on continuing to develop a relationship with the state’s sole academic hospital: The University of Mississippi Medical Center.

“I think 2018 was really a very good year,” Anderson said. “One big initiative was formalizing the relationship with UMMC.”

Anderson discussed the importance of the affiliation last year, saying it would bring advanced pediatric care and create a “physician pipeline” to continually bring young doctors to the Meridian area.

“We’re taking care of more kids, closer to home and at home, than in the past,” Anderson said. “It’s a tremendous benefit that parents can get that care close to home.”

Clinics that are part of this affiliation with UMMC, including it’s pediatric arm, Children’s of Mississippi, include neurology, orthopedics and other disciplines. Using telehealth clinics, physicians in the two areas can partner up on urology, child development, genetics and endocrinology.

Clinics include a child development clinic in January and a hematology/oncology clinic in February. In July, the hospital plans to host an endocrinology clinic.

“Children’s of Mississippi seeks to help all Mississippi children reach their full potential, and offering care closer to home for Meridian families is part of that mission,” Guy Giesecke, the CEO of Children’s of Mississippi, said in an Anderson news release. “We’re proud to care for these children through the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s affiliation with Anderson Regional Health System in Meridian.”

Addressing shortages

Directors at both Rush and Anderson have discussed the difficulties previously of recruiting physicians to Meridian.

Anderson said that Anderson started the UMMC affiliation to address this shortage and create a path for physicians to come in Meridian and stay to work in the area. Specifically, Anderson said the hospital has focused on pediatrics and cancer treatment.

“The two combined with be very, very robust,” Anderson said. “With the university being an academic medical center and us as a community cancer program.”

Even on a case-by-case business, developing the relationship with UMMC has strengthened the hospital as a regional cancer center, Anderson said.

“Each week we hold an ongoing care committee and those physicians review cancer cases,” Anderson said. “We can video conference (physicians at MCC) in and then everybody gets to see these cases.”

Two areas of focuses have been MRI-ultrasound prostate biopsies and 3D mammography.

Biopsies to detect prostate cancer are more reliable than prostate-specific antigen tests or digital rectal exams. But trans-rectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies can have poor image resolution or miss the tumor whereas the MRI-ultrasound biopsy combines pre-biopsy MRI images and ultrasound-guided biopsy images in real time.

Genius 3D mammography can detect 20 to 65 percent more invasive breast cancers and reduces the need for unnecessary callbacks or false calls.

“There are resources from the academic side that maybe you didn’t have before,” Anderson said. “You can just see how care can be improved.”