Robotic Surgery Specialist Joins Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital

Orlando, FL (June 30, 2022) – Dr. Francisco Couto, a board-certified general surgeon specializing in general and minimally invasive surgery, has joined the Orlando Health Medical Group Surgery, and will be practicing at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital in Longwood, Florida.

A noted researcher and highly skilled robotic surgeon, Dr. Couto’s areas of interest include abdominal wall reconstruction, hernia surgery, para-esophageal hernia repair, and surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux.

He received his medical training from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas and completed his residency in surgery at the Hahnemann University Hospital at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Couto performed his fellowship in bariatric and advanced gastrointestinal minimally invasive surgery at Greenville Health System at the University of South Carolina College of Medicine.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Dr. Couto has written extensively on his surgical experiences and practices. Among his articles and presentations are short-term preoperative weight loss and postoperative outcomes in bariatric surgery; the role of robotic assisted surgery in benign esophageal disease; factors affecting salvage rate of infected hernia mesh; and the robotic versus laparoscopic approach to hiatal hernia repair.

Dr. Couto is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Hernia Society, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Society of Robotic Surgery and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level One Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in the St. Petersburg region. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows. The 3,200-bed system includes 10 award-winning hospitals, 9 hospital based ERs, and 7 free-standing emergency rooms; rehabilitation services, cancer and heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,200 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 23,000 team members. In FY21, Orlando Health served more than 160,000 inpatients and 3.6 million outpatients. During that same time period, Orlando Health provided approximately $648 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.