The Centre Hospitalier Régional de Trois-Rivières is breaking ground in robotics by bringing in the latest generation in hospital pharmacy technology, which will significantly reduce the opportunity for human error in medication dispensing and distribution. The CHRTR processes over 2,000 prescriptions per day, an increase of 43 per cent since 1993, and this number is expected to double in the next ten years. Automating highly repetitive tasks such as those involved in hospital medication dispensing could even save lives.

The Centre Hospitalier Regional de Trois-Rivières (CHRTR) in Québec has just signed agreements which will enable the hospital to automate medication dispensing with the latest in bar code technology, McKesson Canada's Robot-Rx and MedCarousel. The Robot-Rx is a stationary robot in the central pharmacy that automates the storage, dispensing, returning, restocking, and crediting of bar coded medications; while the MedCarousel is an automated storage and retrieval system which optimizes and tracks inventory using technology that increases medication safety.

"We are galloping into the future," said Yvon Rousseau, Chief Pharmacist for the CHRTR. "We will be the second in the province of Quebec to benefit from this technology; we are even ahead of the teaching hospitals."
For Trois-Rivières patients this means a significant increase in patient safety, and for the hospital's administration it means better cost management, increased productivity, and an answer to the shortage of available pharmacists. "The robot is an incentive to attract young pharmacists," exclaimed Mr. Rousseau. "A pharmacist would rather work in a hospital like this one, where they are likely to focus on patient counseling, rather than on medication dispensing and distribution."

"For us, dependability is important, and this is what this technology will give us in terms of safety. Its error rate is almost inconsequential," emphasized Mr. Rousseau. "When you repeat the same activities hundreds of times per day, and that is when you risk making mistakes." 

"McKesson Canada is very proud to be providing state-of-the-art automation equipment to the Canadian health care sector", commented Antoine Lefaivre, Vice-President, Strategy and Business Development for McKesson Canada. "This agreement with the CHRTR is important in that it represents the very latest generation of this technology. McKesson Canada is committed to working with health care institutions and professionals to provide Canadians with a safer and more efficient health care system."