Hospitals Test Robots for Heavy Lifting

0:00It's April 28th. You're listening to Tampa Bay News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey, with the story. Hospitals deal with tons of heavy lifting every day, like moving stretchers and wheelchairs across their massive campuses. Now, a pilot program at Morton Plan Hospital in Clearwater, Florida is testing robots from RoVex to handle that grunt work. Fouted by emergency room doc David Krab, these bots grab and tow empty equipment so staff can focus on patients. Krab calls hospitals mini cities that run deliveries around the clock, handling 20,000 to 30,000 patient transports a month. Unlike the outside world with its Amazon and Uber fleets, nurses and techs have been pulling double duty. BayCare Health System, which runs 16 hospitals and soon 17, partnered with RoVex to change that. Staff reactions are all positive, with BayCare's innovation VP Craig Anderson stressing the robots assist humans, not replace them. The goal is simple, free up time for muscle work,

1:01so caregivers stay bedside, using their minds, hearts and hands for real patient care. It's already a step up from basic bots that just deliver meds. This seven month pilot kicked off this month after mapping the hospital's workflow. They start safe, moving only empty stretchers without patients nearby, then ease into full use. RoVex, born in Gainesville, and now expanding in St. Petersburg, built this around untapped logistics needs, like beds and linens too. If the trial proves out, BayCare plans to roll these robots across more Florida spots, getting providers back where they shine and easing the daily. Grind