BILLINGS - Two robots have boosted cleanliness scores at Billings Clinic Hospital since they arrived four months ago.
Robots named Meryl Sweep and Dirt Reynolds have been working at the hospital since December, focusing on scrubbing up to 25,000 square feet of floors, mainly in hospital lobbies.
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Cleanliness scores from patients have gone up by 10% since Meryl and Dirt arrived, according to hospital reports.
The service has also helped cleaning crews spend more time close to patients, according to Robert Derrett, hospital vice president of ancillary services and operations.
“To have a staff member consistently cleaning the floors really takes away what we really want to accomplish here at Billings Clinic, which is putting our staff as close as they can to the bedside of the patient,” said Derrett.
"A lot of the units say just how (much) cleaner our floors have been, to be able to have the difference with our floor techs on the unit. So, we get lots of compliments for that," added Taylor Chanthadouandsy, the hospital’s dayshift environmental services manager.
The robots have a battery life of almost six hours and can clean for approximately 3.5 hours at a time.
The robots cannot have conversations with patients, but they can say simple messages, such as, "Excuse me. I am going this way. Please step aside."
“I think that's one of the cool features," said Chanthadouandsy.
The robots arriving created a lot of enthusiasm among hospital staff, who submitted 700 name ideas for them.
“The selection process of even getting down to three from the original 700 requests was a lot of fun. We had a great committee to help us decide what those top three might be and obviously, we landed on Dirt Reynolds and Meryl Sweep after working through that,” said Derrett.
Employees hinted at more robots coming to the hospital in the future, but there are no immediate plans.
"I personally would love to have more robots," said Chanthadouandsy.
"We will continue to evaluate the need and other options as robots continue to become more innovative," added Derrett.
