{"id":406169,"date":"2026-05-01T05:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406169\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T05:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:10:10","slug":"fundraising-for-publicly-owned-surgical-robot-hits-2-million-milestone-in-less-than-three-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406169\/","title":{"rendered":"Fundraising For Publicly-Owned Surgical Robot Hits $2 Million Milestone In Less Than Three Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, 1 May 2026, 4:14 pm
Press Release: Palmerston North Hospital Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

Half-a-million people in the central North Island are
\ncloser to accessing high-tech robotic surgery, as
\nfundraising for a publicly-owned surgical robot at
\nPalmerston North Regional Hospital reaches the $2 million
\nmilestone.<\/p>\n

The milestone, which brings the project
\nwithin reach of its $2.5 million goal, was announced by the
\nPalmerston North Hospital Foundation at an event at Caccia
\nBirch House.<\/p>\n

Palmerston
\nNorth Hospital Foundation Chair Brendan Duffy speaks with
\nrobotic surgery patient Milly Pivac at the event
\n(Photo\/Supplied)<\/p>\n

The new
\ndonations include $500,000 from the Palmerston North
\nHospital Regional Cancer Treatment Trust, $500,000 from a
\nprivate local donor, $400,000 from The Lion Foundation and
\n$70,000 combined from the Awapuni and Palmerston North
\nRotary Clubs .<\/p>\n

Foundation Chair Brendan Duffy says the
\nprogress has exceeded all expectations.<\/p>\n

“It is an
\nextraordinary outcome. When we launched this campaign in
\nFebruary, we asked our community to back something bold.
\nWhat has happened since is remarkable, our initial $500,000
\ndonation from a generous private donor which has been
\nmatched, and then some. We are now $2 million of the way to
\n$2.5 million and we intend to finish the
\njob.”<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the donations, Duffy says that the
\ncontribution from the Palmerston North Hospital Regional
\nCancer Treatment Trust shows the importance of community
\ninstitutions working together.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

“The donation from the
\nPalmerston North Hospital Regional Cancer Treatment Trust is
\na compelling example of what’s possible when organisations
\nwithin a community choose to work together. Only so much can
\nbe achieved in isolation, by directing this support toward
\nthe surgical robot, they’ve helped unlock an outcome far
\ngreater than either of us could have delivered alone. That’s
\nhow it should work.”<\/p>\n

The Lion Foundation Chief
\nExecutive, Tony Goldfinch, echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n

“The
\nLion Foundation is proud to support the Palmerston North
\nHospital Foundation’s surgical robot campaign. This is
\nexactly the kind of project we exist to support, one that
\nwill make a genuine and lasting difference to the health
\noutcomes of New Zealanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge the
\nsupport and contribution of our venue partners in generating
\nthis critical funding and look forward to seeing the impact
\nthis funding will have for patients and their wh\u0101nau for
\nyears to come.”<\/p>\n

Robotic
\nsurgery recipient Milly Pivac shares her story with the
\nFoundation’s supporters
\n(Photo\/Supplied)<\/p>\n

Palmerston
\nNorth Regional Hospital Clinical Director of Surgical
\nServices Dr Alberto Ramirez says the technology will change
\nwhat’s possible for patients across the region.<\/p>\n

“Major
\nsurgery has a big impact on a patient’s life and their wider
\nwh\u0101nau. This robot means smaller incisions, faster
\nrecovery, and fewer complications – it\u2019s becoming the
\nbenchmark for so many procedures. Our region deserves access
\nto it.”<\/p>\n

Currently, there is only one surgical robot
\noperating within New Zealand’s public health system, based
\nin Auckland. The Foundation’s goal is to have one in place
\nat Palmerston North Regional Hospital by the end of 2026,
\nserving a population of more than 580,000 people across the
\ncentral North Island.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to support
\nthis project, from one-off donations to community
\nfundraising. A fundraising kit is available on the
\nFoundation’s website. For more information or to donate,
\nvisit www.pnhospitalfoundation.co.nz
\nor email info@pnhospitalfoundation.co.nz.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>
\n
\n<\/p>\n

Using Scoop for work?<\/p>\n

Scoop is free for personal use, but you”ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.<\/p>\n

Join Pro Individual<\/a>
\nFind out more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday, 1 May 2026, 4:14 pmPress Release: Palmerston North Hospital Foundation Half-a-million people in the central North Island…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[134,7057,3274,111,24636,139,69,209209,11112,71604],"class_list":["post-406169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-healthcare-industry","tag-hospitals","tag-new-zealand","tag-newsworthy","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-palmerston-north-hospital-foundation","tag-scoop","tag-surgical-robot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}