He’s good at his job, even when you push his buttons

There’s a new “employee” in the L+M Hospital Laboratory, and he seems quite proud of himself, sporting a lab coat and his “Lab Technician” employee badge.

“He definitely gets his steps in every day,” said Nicole Caillouette, Lab director, who explained that Robby (OK, he’s not an employee; he’s a robot) was “hired” to shuttle specimens from the Lab’s Central Receiving Center to departments such as Hematology and Chemistry.

Robby, who replaced an older, now-retired robot named Rosie, saves employees countless hours of walking time, enabling real lab technicians to focus on sorting and processing patient specimens, which pour in each day from L+M and Westerly hospitals, the Pequot Health Center, doctors’ offices and skilled nursing facilities.

Robby also has the potential to be programmed to pick up samples on patient units. He comes from a company, Relay, Inc., which also has robots in hotels for room service. “If someone needs a toothbrush, they’ll send the robot on the elevator, and it will ring your room with a delivery,” Caillouette said.

For the Lab’s sake, though, let’s hope Robby sticks with his healthcare career. “After just a couple of weeks he’s really on a roll,” Caillouette said. “So far, I’d say he’s following all our Standards Of Professional Behavior.”