Be Well Lakeland
Lakeland Regional Health’s General Surgeons Passionate About Helping Patients
DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LAKELAND REGIONAL HEALTH
From Left to Right: Dr. Donald Davis, Dr. Diana Burgueno-Vega and Dr. Zachary Boucher
Lakeland Regional Health’s surgeons know that the dynamic relationship they have with one another is something special.
Dr. Donald Davis, founding director of LRH’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs for general surgery and surgical critical care, puts it this way: “Our surgical teams work very cohesively. There is mentorship and working together. You don’t find that elsewhere.”
Dr. Davis worked 10 years as a trauma and acute care surgeon and faculty member at another academic hospital before a former colleague invited Davis to visit LRH in 2021. On his first visit, he was amazed by the talent he saw among the surgeons and also by the level of openness and collaboration. He and his colleagues in general surgery share tips on using robotics with the trauma surgery team, and he is fascinated by the new tools and procedures being used by the surgical oncology team.
“The opportunity to come here and work with these guys and build something new was so great, I couldn’t pass it up,” he says. “I don’t know if other surgeons realize what all we have here. We never have to send our patients somewhere else. Other hospitals should be sending their patients to us.”
The general surgery team includes Dr. Davis, Dr. Zachary Boucher and Dr. Diana Burgueno-Vega.
“We all specialize in different things that we are very passionate about,” says Dr. Boucher, “At this hospital, and on my team, we do the same things over and over, so we really have it down to a fine science. And we work well together, really cohesively, which leads to great outcomes for patients.”
A PASSION FOR THEIR WORK
Although all the general surgeons perform common procedures such as hernia, gallbladder and diverticulitis surgery, Dr. Boucher’s passion is hernia repair. He loves to evangelize about the use of robotics in hernia repair and is an expert on the da Vinci Surgical System.
“The da Vinci robot has really transformed what I do, because it makes recovery so much easier. It’s a very precise type of surgery,” he says. “Stomach or hiatal hernias used to include some guesswork, and new technology is bringing more precision there, also.”
Dr. Burgueno-Vega also appreciates the positive changes that robotics have brought, including quicker relief for her surgery patients, but her passion revolves around patients she sees for much longer and sometimes for years: chronic wound care patients.
She also helps patients who need the functional reconstruction of skin grafts and flaps, which is often necessary for obese patients who lose a lot of weight and have excess skin.
She has a special interest in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic, debilitating condition characterized by painful, recurring lumps and abscesses. Dr. Burgueno-Vega was able to help one young woman who suffered with HS for years, hardly leaving her house, by excising the affected skin and covering it with a skin graft.
“These patients suffer with terrible pain for years, and to be able to help them reintegrate into society is very gratifying,” she says.
Dr. Davis says he specializes in “procedures no one else wants to do—complex abdominal surgeries, fistulas, abdominal wall reconstructions,” and he finds the most satisfaction in the “really complex cases, because that’s where you’re doing the most good.”
He started medical school aspiring to become a pediatrician but realized his passion and aptitude were in surgery. He started in trauma surgery, which was a huge rush, before gravitating to emergency surgery.
“You talk with patients, establish that bond and reassure them they’ll get through this,” he says. “I wanted to care for patients, not just be a technician. Now, I tell our residents, ‘We are physicians who operate. But we are physicians first.’”
NOTHING TO FEAR
The surgeons all are aware that surgery can be scary for patients, especially going under anesthesia. Dr. Boucher tries to calm those fears by reminding people “the anesthesiologists and the technology are both so good.”
“I would rival our surgical care with any hospital in the world,” he says. “Other than transplants, which we don’t do here, LRH’s surgical program is as strong as anywhere.”
Dr. Burgueno-Vega says patients can rest easy knowing they are in good hands.
“Our patients get really great care. We take care of patients in a timely manner, doing our job with good, evidence-based medicine and compassionate care.”
“These patients
suffer with terrible pain for years, and to be able to help them reintegrate into society is very gratifying.”
Learn more about LRH’s General Surgery/Trauma