The da Vinci Si robot, which arrived at Port Macquarie Private Hospital in May, has already been used in more than 20 urology procedures thanks to a major investment at the Lake Road hospital.

Port Macquarie Private Hospital urologist Dr Nader Awad described the da Vinci Si robot as "an extension of your hands inside the patient" which allowed surgeons to perform a more consistent operation over a broader range of patients.

"I think the benefits of the technology are that patients can recover more quickly and they can be out of hospital within two days, there's certainly less blood loss with robotic procedures than open surgery," Dr Awad said.

Dr Awad had been travelling to Sydney for more than three years to train in robotic surgery techniques.

He said having the da Vinci Si robot at Port Macquarie was also important for local surgeons.

"If regional centres don't embrace technology they won't be able to attract good surgeons," he said.

"This helps us recruit that next generation of urologist, because if you want doctors to leave the big cities, you need to offer them this sort of technology."

He said robotics was a key way to treat a lot of urologic cancers.

"If you are a young urologist trying to make that decision to move your family to a regional centre, having a robot is going to be critical," Dr Awad said.

"Quite often, it's a deal breaker."

Port Macquarie Private Hospital chief executive officer Connie Porter said the technology was a huge win for Port Macquarie residents because they no longer needed to travel long distances to access robotic surgery.

"We're really excited to be able to offer this option to our patients because previously they had to travel to Sydney or Brisbane to access this technique," she said.

"It's wonderful to partner with our doctors to provide locals with robotic surgery right here in Port Macquarie."

The cutting edge technology has been used to perform prostate and kidney cancer surgery, as well as complex bladder procedures.

There is increasing interest from other fields of medicine such as gynaecology and general surgery.

Ms Porter said to be an attractive place for a specialist doctor to settle, we needed to be able to provide access to the latest technology.

She also stressed the importance of equitable access for regional patients.

Coffs Harbour resident Jonathon Hart underwent a radical prostatectomy, with Dr Awad using the da Vinci Si robot for the procedure.

"Having the robot there at Port Macquarie was the deciding factor, my brother had it done in Brisbane and the research my wife and I did confirmed that was the way we wanted to go," he said.

"So when we heard the robot was in Port Macquarie, we went for it."

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