Robot nurse assistants are joining Texas hospitals amid healthcare worker shortage
San Angelo Standard-Times
SAN ANGELO, Texas — As Texas grapples with a dire nursing shortage, some hospitals are augmenting their workforce with artificially intelligent robots.
In the West Texas city of San Angelo (260 miles southwest of Dallas), Shannon Medical Center's newest assistants are roving the hallways, but not on two legs. They have wheels, oblong faces and blue eyes that light up, literally, into pink hearts.
"We are one of the first hospitals in the country to have this technology," said Lyndy Stone, Shannon's director of marketing.
Austin-based company Diligent Robotics created an artificially intelligent robot it calls "Moxi" to assist healthcare workers. Two such units rolled out for duty in San Angelo on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, to assist with routine tasks, such as fetching medications and delivering lab samples.
Moxi was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Inventions in 2019 and has appeared at other hospital facilities, which include Medical City Dallas Hospital and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
For the full article and to see Moxi in action at the hospital: https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/2021/12/15/texas-hospitals-hiring-robot-assistants-amid-nursing-shortage/6447516001/