Lakewood Health System’s New Robot Helping Deliver Medications & Specimens

Lakewood Health System in Staples has recently expanded their laboratory and added some very helpful technology to aid staff in the form of a new robot.

Lakewood’s Staples facility is two-stories tall, with a lab on the bottom floor and draw rooms on the top to obtain blood and other samples. This caused staffing challenges on how workers would efficiently transport samples back and forth between floors without taking time away from their patients.

After researching possible solutions, they decided to purchase a robot. Named TIM-E, the robot uses special laser, sonar, and infrared sensors to override automatic doors and elevators to help deliver medications and other materials in a timely manner.

Once staff call TIM-E to their respective departments, the robot is programmed to follow a pre-mapped path to arrive at its destination. Staff can load TIM-E with materials into its built-in drawers and then send the machine off to its next destination for delivery.

Lakewood officials say that since its first run on June 21, 2022, TIM-E has traveled 1,000 miles and made 1,300 total trips with 3,900 deliveries or pick-ups. They say with the robot taking on its transport duties, time has been added back to the day for lab staff.