Change '01/01/1980' date format to to_date('01/01/1980', 'MM/DD/YYYY')

hi,

i have come across this code:

s{(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,4})}{$1-$2-$3}g;

the code is written in perl. it will change date format from  01/01/1980 to 01-01-1980.
I would like to amend it so that is will look for this date format '01/01/1980' (with single quote) and change in to this "to_date('01/01/1980', 'MM/DD/YYYY')" (exclude the double quote)

thanks in advanced.