Franklin Hospital is located in the heart of Pukekohe. The hospital opened in August 2021 to bring specialists and surgical services to the community, as we understood the frustration of our community in accessing specialist appointments and surgical procedures which until then were only available in Auckland. Our inception was due to a need in our community.
Other businesses located in the same building as the hospital are Urgent Care, United Pharmacy Pukekohe, Pukekohe Family Doctors and Salute café.
Our mission is to give patients an experience during their stay with us through excellent care and innovative technology.
We are proud to have assisted over 5000 residents with their health needs and and thus reducing their need to travel central Auckland. We have operated on 2021 patients and have carried out 3304 Endoscopy procedures.
Our patients come from private healthcare, those under ACC and currently from the public sector. We cover several specialties including Gynaecology, Dental, Plastic, General and Orthopaedic surgery. We are soon to introduce urology and ENT services.
Our surgeons and staff are always looking at ways in which we can improve patient experience and outcomes, so when we were approached to see if we would like to look at the MAKO robot, already in use at North Shore Hospital we jumped at the chance.
The MAKO is a robot that allows for more precise joint replacements. Knee joint replacements have been carried out with the assistance of the robot since 2017, however the first robot assisted Hip joint replacement was carried out, at Franklin Hospital, by Mr Anthony Maher, on 28th June 2023.
We are proud to be a leader in this field and one of the first private hospitals in the North Island to have this technology on site.
Maher said “the procedure is the same as a traditional replacement with the addition of a robot which positions the implants. Before this process was done based on personal experience, x-rays and feeling the patient’s anatomy to place the implant”
During the surgery the robotic arm is guided by the surgeon “The big advantage is that there is less soft tissues damage for patients, because the robot gets the implants in at a tighter precise spot. This means there is better recovery and less chance of dislocation”
The post operative pain is significantly less, and mobility is far quicker, in most patients, due to the reduction in soft tissue injury.
We have several orthopaedic surgeons working at Franklin who are trained to perform Knee joint replacements, with the MAKO, and are keen to complete the training for Hip joint replacements, so we can help many more people in the future.