FLUSHING, NY -- With September being Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, urologists from the North Shore-LIJ Health System will be at Citi Field’s Health and Wellness Information Center on September 13-14-15, accompanied by the da Vinci Surgical Robot. Fans attending those Mets’ games against the Pittsburgh Pirates will be able to test drive two consoles that will be set up with the da Vinci robot. The da Vinci® System offers patients a minimally invasive option for a range of surgeries, including prostate cancer. Surgery is performed through the smallest of incisions, typically resulting in less pain, fewer complications, and shorter or no hospital stays.

Prostate cancer affects one out of every six men, and is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. This year, approximately 218,000 new cases of prostate cancer will occur in the United States. Physicians and staff from North Shore-LIJ’s Smith Institute for Urology will be on hand at Citi Field’s Health Information Team (HIT) center to answer questions on prostate cancer risk factors, screening techniques and treatment. Urologists Lee Richstone, MD, and Richard Ashley, MD, will be at the September 13 game, followed by Michael Schwartz, MD, and Lee Richstone, MD, on September 14, and Manish Vira, MD, and Zachary Baxter, MD, on September 15.

Located on the Field Level in the right field corner, the HIT center is staffed during every Mets’ home game by North Shore-LIJ doctors and other medical professionals, who provide guidance and counseling to fans on a wide variety of health-related topics. This unique service was made possible by New York Mets President Saul Katz’s commitment to and support of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, the Katz Institute for Women’s Health and the Katz Women’s Hospital. which is under construction at both LIJ Medical Center in Queens and North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY, and scheduled to open in 2012 and 2011, respectively.

For more information about prostate cancer and other urologic conditions, go to: www.smithinstituteforurology.com.

Media Contact:
Terry Lynam
516-465-2640/2600
tlynam@nshs.edu