Robot helps Lee Memorial improve medicine delivery

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A new $123,000 robot is helping Lee Memorial Hospital run more efficiently by delivering medicine throughout the facility.

The robot, named TUG, was introduced to the public Tuesday, though it began operating Sept. 27. It has traveled more than 100 miles, making an average of 17 trips daily using wireless technology, an internal map and laser sensors to complete its routes.

TUG delivers medications from the pharmacy to nurses in different locations throughout the hospital.

Lee Memorial is the only facility in the Lee Health system that does not have delivery tubes installed. TUG is not eliminating any jobs at Lee Memorial, but rather allowing pharmacists to tend to their roles in the pharmacy at all times, hospital staff said.

TUG is regularly monitored by a third-party company and its medications are locked in drawers that are accessed though password and fingerprint codes.