Alma Pine Elementary Student Names New Medical Center Robot

Nolan Cole, winner of the Name Our Robot contest at MyMichigan Medical Center Alma, is pictured with the surgical team.

MyMichigan Medical Center Alma partnered with elementary schools in Clare, Isabella and Gratiot Counties to tap the creativity of the area’s young minds and help the Medical Center name its da Vinci^® surgical robot. With more than 530 entries from 13 area elementary schools, the name “Stella” was selected by the Medical Center’s surgical team. The name was submitted by fourth grader Nolan Cole of Pine Elementary in Alma who noted it was the perfect name for the robot as it does stellar work in the operating room.

As the winner, Cole received a $100 gift card and he and his classmates received a pizza party. In addition, a plaque with his name will be placed outside Stella’s operating room.

Nolan Cole, named MyMichigan Medical Center Alma’s new da Vinci^® surgical robot “Stella.” He was able to test drive the robot during the Name Our Robot award presentation.

“We enjoyed our partnership with the area students, and we were very impressed with all entries,” said Marita Hattem-Schiffman, F.A.C.H.E., C.P.M.S.M., president, MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma, Clare and Mt. Pleasant. “Rounding out the top 10 entries were Leonardo da Vinci, Heal-Bot, Mylo (My Lucky Operation), The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Rearrange Your Gut Machinery, AlmaTron, Dr. Heal Good, Edward Scalpelhands and Rosey (Robot of Surgical Equipment for You).”

The $2 million da Vinci Xi robotic surgical platform was installed in early January 2025 at the Medical Center in Alma. This technology enhances the surgeon’s skills rather than replacing them, offering patients the benefits of smaller incisions, reduced pain, lower infection risk, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery and minimal scarring. During a da Vinci Xi robotic procedure, the surgeon sits at a computer console where they view images from inside the body and use hand controls to maneuver the da Vinci’s robotic arms. An eyepiece and endoscope magnify intricate procedures in high-definition detail. The da Vinci’s interactive arms can move the surgeon’s tools back and forth, side to side and can rotate in a full circle.

“This modernization ensures that we can provide a full range of surgical procedures in the most current environment and be prepared for the future,” adds Hattem-Schiffman. “Robotic surgery is becoming the standard in surgeon training and is essential to ensuring central Michigan communities can receive excellent surgical care well into the future. With several surgeons on staff who are robotically trained, the unit has been in use every day for elective surgeries since it arrived.”

While the da Vinci is used for many types of surgeries, at the Medical Center in Alma, surgeries performed with the technology include bariatric, gallbladder, hernia and hysterectomy. The surgeons currently using the robotic system include Bariatric and General Surgeons Jeffrey Bonacci, M.D., and Ernest Cudjoe, M.D., and Obstetrician/Gynecologist Jennifer Schmidt, D.O. Patients who are candidates for surgery should talk with their providers to decide the right options for their specific surgery.

Hattem-Schiffman continued, “As for the future in health care, we hope the naming contest sparked some interest in surgery among our local students, especially those who had the chance to test drive the robot during the Community Open House. I know Nolan had the biggest smile on his face when he got to try out the machine.”

Those interested in more information about robotic surgery at MyMichigan Health may visit www.mymichigan.org/roboticsurgery.