Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula adds robot assistants to improve clinical efficiency and support nursing teams - First hospital robot of its kind in Northern and Central California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Monica Sciuto (831) 622-2756
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Monterey, Calif. — Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula announced today the addition of robot assistants to support clinicians in giving patients the highest quality of care across multiple areas at the hospital. Community Hospital is the first hospital in Northern and Central California to deploy robot assistants so clinical staff can focus on what they do best: patient care. Using machine-learning technology, the robots, named Moxi, use an array of sensors to map the hospital and have a mechanized arm to navigate multiple types of doors including doors, including those that require badge access. Moxi helps with non-patient-facing tasks such as fetching supplies, delivering lab samples, picking up medicines from the pharmacy, and more, improving overall clinical workflows and efficiency. Its estimated nurses spend nearly one-third of their time getting supplies, so automating these tasks enables them to operate at the top of their training and skills and spend more time with patients.
“We are excited to introduce Moxi robots to our staff and look forward to having them be a helpful team member to support our staff,” said Deborah Sober, Vice President of Nursing. “We look for an innovative ways to support our staff which is why I am so excited to watch the implementation roll out. In just the first couple of weeks since Moxi was introduced to the staff, we are seeing positive impacts it is making on our staff’s efficiency and overall mental well-being.”
The fleet of Moxi robots was made possible thanks to grant funding from Montage Health Foundation. “Supporting our nurses and clinical care teams creates a better work environment, and better care for our patients,” said Kevin Causey, Vice President, Montage Health Foundation. “Philanthropic support from our community allows the Foundation to support clinical innovations like Moxi, and we’re excited to see this new initiative already making a difference for our care team and patients.”
Moxi was designed and created by Diligent Robotics, a robotics company that develops artificial intelligence to enable robots to collaborate with and adapt to humans. “What we have seen is that nurses, especially during the pandemic, are working long hours and can spend an astonishing 30 percent of their time fetching and gathering supplies,” said Dr. Andrea Thomaz, co-founder of Diligent Robotics. “That’s a lot of time spent away from patients, so we designed Moxi to be the perfect teammate for nurses and healthcare workers. We want Moxi to be a capable, useful teammate that supports, not replaces, valued nurses and hospital staff.”
Designed to be compatible with the busy, semi-structured environments of hospitals, Moxi’s core technical features include:
- Social intelligence: opens elevators and doors on its own, won’t bump into people or objects in hallways, even poses for selfies
- Mobile manipulation: Moxi can interact with the hospitals existing environment such as doors and elevators that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act to gain access across the entire facility without requiring a significant investment in infrastructure
- Human-guided learning: The more staff uses Moxi, the more Moxi learns and adapts to your environment and way of doing things
“Healthcare is really about people,” said Faith Merriam, Director of Nursing at Community Hospital. “Any resources that leverage technology and innovation in our clinical areas and allow nurses to spend more time at the bedside brings us back to why we chose this profession in the first place, to care for patients.”
The robots’ first official day on the job is Wednesday, March 15. For more information about Community Hospital’s Moxi robot assistants, visit montagehealth.org/moxi.
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ABOUT COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, established in 1934, has grown and evolved in direct response to the changing healthcare needs of the people it serves. Its parent company is Montage Health, the umbrella for entities that work together to deliver exceptional care and inspire the pursuit of optimal health. Community Hospital is a nonprofit healthcare provider with 220 staffed acute-care hospital beds and 28 skilled-nursing beds, delivering a continuum of care from birth to end of life, and every stage in between. It serves the Monterey Peninsula and surrounding communities through locations including the main hospital, outpatient facilities, satellite laboratories, a mental health clinic, a short-term skilled nursing facility (Westland House), Hospice of the Central Coast, Montage Wellness Centers, and business offices. Find more information about Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula at chomp.org
ABOUT MONTAGE HEALTH FOUNDATION
Montage Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization that inspires and coordinates philanthropic support for Montage Health. Montage Health Foundation supports the work of Montage Health through grant-making, volunteerism, and philanthropic partnerships with community members and like-minded organizations. Find more information about Montage Health Foundation at montagehealthfoundation.org
