By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
HaysMed has welcomed a new general surgeon to its staff.
Dr. Mark Savolt started his practice at HaysMed on Sept. 1.
Savolt, a University of Kansas Medical School graduate, recently completed his residency, serving at hospitals in the Wichita metro area, including Ascension Via Christa St. Francis and Wesley Medical Center. He also completed part of his training at St. Joseph and the Robert J. Dole Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, both in Wichita.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Denver in May 2017.
As a general surgeon, Savolt operates on all parts of the body.
He said he has a special interest in hernia and hernia repair.
“I really like the acute care aspect of things. So people on their worst days, when they're coming in, and their appendix is ruptured, or their gallbladder is infected, taking that out,” Savolt said.
About 70 to 80% of Savolt’s surgeries can be done using the hospital’s DaVinci surgical robot.
The robot never acts on its own. The surgeon controls every action directly in real time. Savolt said using the robot allows the surgeon to make an incision as wide as his thumb rather than the length of a person’s belly, which speeds recovery and reduces pain.
“Big colon resections or giant hernia repairs, people go home the next day with it, and so it's really, really beneficial for surgeons and patients,” he said.
The surgeon sits at a console viewing a magnified, high-definition 3D image of the surgical site. Hand, finger and wrist movements are translated into scaled-down, tremor-free micro-movements of the robotic instruments.
In addition to using the robot, Savolt also uses other surgical techniques, including laparoscopy, open and endoscopy.
Savolt grew up in Garden City and worked in his family’s business, Bob Huber Produce.
“I really grew up working with my hands, and I really like that aspect of general surgery of finding a problem,” he said, “and being able to work my hands to really get to it.
“From a personal standpoint, I want my patients to know that when they come to my office, I treat them like I would want a family member to be treated. I want to listen to them, try and help them in any way that I can, whether it's a surgical problem or not.”
Savolt said his heroes were doctors in his hometown, including his family physician Dr. James Walter Bruno, deceased, and local surgeon Dr. Zeferino J. Arroyo.
“We'd go in for sports physicals or meet them around. They were really my mentors and had me thinking that maybe I could pursue medicine,” Savolt said.
“They helped me get into college and medical school, and were just really good mentors,” he said. “It's also another really big reason that I wanted to return to more rural Kansas to see the impact that they made and maybe I can make an impact like that here.”
When he went to medical school, he said he knew he wanted to return to western Kansas to practice.
“When I'd see patients in Wichita, they'd always come from Garden or Dodge City,” he said. “I always just thought that it was ridiculous that people have to drive hours and hours and hours to get adequate care, have their gallbladders taken out or have their hernias fixed.”
Savolt has moved to Hays with his wife and their 3-month-old baby.
You can learn more about the HaysMed general surgery department on its website.
https://www.haysmed.com/services/general-surgery/