A South Island first for Forté

Forté is the first hospital in the South Island, and one of only a handful of hospitals worldwide, to host robotic laser HoLEP surgery.

The surgery was undertaken in March 2025 by urologist Giovanni Losco as part of an international clinical trial for men with enlarged prostates.

HoLEP stands for Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate. The surgery involves cutting away part of the prostate to reduce the constriction of urine flow.

Forté has been undertaking HoLEP surgeries since 2018, but this was the first time the surgery was aided using a robot. Whilst in its early days, the robot is intended to assist the surgeon using artificial intelligence, making the surgery smoother and reducing any post-operative issues.

This robot is only being used in four hospitals across the world – and two of those are in New Zealand being Forté Hospital and Tauranga Hospital.