St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa has introduced Turbo Teddy. This three-foot-tall robot transports medications from the pharmacy to patients. It began operations this week, completing 10 to 20 deliveries daily.
The robot solves a tricky issue. Chemotherapy and certain GI and neurological medications can’t be shaken, so the hospital’s pneumatic tube system won’t work for them.
Before Turbo Teddy arrived, staff had to hand-carry these medications. A runner would walk from the pharmacy in the basement of St. Joseph’s Main Hospital to the Children’s Day Hospital. To cut down on trips, runners often waited to batch several medications together.
“We had to have medications in batches so that the one person that was running those medications didn’t have to do that multiple times,” said Danielle Nelski, nurse manager at the Children’s Day Hospital, according to Fox 13 News. “So that would cause a delay sometimes in those medications getting to our patients.”
The Fink family funded the robot through a donation. David Fink received care for Crohn’s disease at the hospital for over ten years. The robot’s name and appearance honor the family’s Pomeranian.
Now Turbo Teddy makes single medication runs instead of batches. Kids receive their medicine quicker. Healthcare workers free up time.
“It allows the pharmacy staff to stay with the medications down in the pharmacy,” Nelski explained. “And it allows nursing staff to stay in proximity with the patients instead of having to have somebody manually run back and forth several times throughout the day.”
This self-driving machine carries its own badge. It scans through secure doors, summons elevators, and rides them without help. The robot dodges people in hallways.
St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital treats the robot as an official staff member.