Don’t be surprised to see robots roaming around the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital. In the coming months, a call for tenders will be launched to purchase around thirty of these robots.
(Photo: Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital project website)
Transporting medical supplies, bedding, meals and other tasks, performed by robots, more precisely automated guided vehicles (AGVs), will fill a certain pressing need, namely to face the shortage of manpower while maximizing the efficiency of hospital activities.
8 hours without a break
According to the law, after 5 consecutive hours of work, a worker is entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break. If he must remain at his workstation during this period, his meal break must be paid. However, this obviously does not apply to VAGs who will be on duty and who will circulate in the hospital, thanks to dedicated corridor and elevator areas. At each stop made in a logistics lobby, a member of the logistics team will take charge of unloading the transported material.
To maintain their operating autonomy, induction charging stations will be strategically positioned throughout the hospital. It is estimated that the VAGs will have an autonomy of 8 hours.
Julie Paquette, Assistant Director – Technical Component at the Major Infrastructure Projects Department of the Integrated Health and Social Services Centre of Montérégie-Ouest, explains that thanks to the VAGs, the future hospital will provide an adapted response to the current challenges of the health sector. “Automating logistics tasks will also free up clinical and support staff to focus on tasks with greater added value for patient care, while reducing the risk of workplace injuries, thus ensuring a more efficient and secure hospital environment than ever before,” says Ms. Paquette.
A challenge
The integration of the VAGs represents a major logistical challenge for the Major Infrastructure Projects Directorate team. This requires very precise planning, with the creation of a detailed flow matrix. This matrix is a table that shows all the planned movements through the two pavilions of the future hospital. Each VAG route must be carefully planned, which requires the close collaboration of logistics experts, industrial engineers and information technology specialists.
