Iván Hernández Dalas: Rovex and BayCare partner to explore in-hospital transport robots
The Rovex robotic transport system navigates a hospital corridor at BayCare’s Morton Plant Hospital. Source: Rovex
BayCare Health System and Rovex today said they have entered a strategic partnership to explore how robotics could support hospital operations and patient-transport workflows. The pilot began this month at BayCare’s Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla.
“We are excited to join forces with Rovex to shape the future of hospital robotics and introduce this cutting‑edge innovation to BayCare, the health care industry, and the communities we serve,” stated Craig Anderson, BayCare’s vice president of innovation.
BayCare’s healthcare system includes 16 hospitals, including a children’s hospital, and hundreds of other locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. It said it is West Central Florida’s largest provider of behavioral health and pediatric services.
The BayCare Medical Group is one of the largest provider groups in the region. The company said its network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, urgent care locations, wellness centers, and one of Florida’s largest home care agencies.
Rovex addresses shorthanded hospitals
For hospitals, patient transport is an essential part of care delivery, noted Rovex. “Delays in patient movement can ripple across the system, slowing imaging and procedural workflows, disrupting schedules, increasing strain and injury risk for staff, and creating a less efficient experience for both patients and care teams,” it said.
David Crabb, M.D., founder and CEO of Rovex, with the company’s system at BayCare’s Morton Plant Hospital. Source: Rovex
Founded in 2024 by emergency physician David Crabb, M.D., Rovex is developing autonomous technology for in-hospital patient transport. The Gainesville, Fla.-based startup said it is focused on helping hospitals improve throughput and make better use of existing operational capacity. Roves plans to provide new tools to meet rising demand as the population ages and workforce shortages continue to grow.
“Healthcare has seen enormous investment in digital tools and AI, but hospitals still depend on a huge amount of physical work behind the scenes,” said Crabb, CEO of Rovex. “We believe robotics can help offload some of that manual burden so staff and providers can spend more time focused on patients.”
“Hospital logistics has downstream effects on staff workload, patient flow, and the patient experience,” he added. “As an emergency physician, I saw firsthand how often providers are pulled away from direct patient care by operational tasks, and our goal at Rovex is to help return more of that time to patients.”
BayCare begins with a phased pilot
The phased pilot at BayCare’s Morton Plant Hospital will run for about seven months, said Crabb. It began with with workflow evaluation, mapping, and learning about operations.
“We do not have a patient-transport phase in the current pilot,” Crabb told The Robot Report. “That remains a long-term goal for Rovex, and the point of this phased approach is to build toward that in a disciplined, step-by-step fashion.”
Testing is beginning in a controlled area of the hospital and will gradually expand to more active environments, he said.
“BayCare Health System is an ideal early partner for Rovex because it combines operational scale with a willingness to thoughtfully evaluate new approaches to technology,” explained Crabb. “They are regionally close, which matters for a high-touch pilot, and they are part of a strong, increasingly innovation-oriented health care region in West Central Florida.”
“Just as importantly, BayCare understands that effective hospital logistics play a direct role in improving patient care,” he said. “From our perspective, we believe the fit came from our novel approach to supporting health care workers while also addressing important operational processes inside the hospital.”
The robotic transport system with a hospital stretcher during the pilot at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla. Source: Rovex
Partners say systems will augment existing staffers
BayCare and Rovex added that the technology is designed to support — not replace — team members by reducing physical strain and operational burden, helping care teams focus more fully on patients. Rovex is working with hospital staffers during the pilot.
“BayCare team members will interact with the robot during the pilot, as it is being developed to support hospital staff and patients, and real‑world feedback is critical to evaluating workflow fit and operational value,” said Crabb. “During the current phase, Rovex personnel will serve as the primary on‑site operators and will remain closely involved in overseeing the system.”
How have healthcare network employees responded so far?
“The early feedback has been largely positive. A lot of the immediate reaction has been that the robot is visually compelling and approachable,” Crabb replied. “We have also heard people ask when they will get to be transported by it, which obviously reflects curiosity and trust, and we have heard that the concept makes intuitive sense in a hospital setting. At this stage, we view that as encouraging early signal, while recognizing that the real value will come from what we learn operationally over the course of the pilot.”
The Rovex pilot at Morton Plant Hospital is evaluating hospital workflows and transport patterns. Source: Rovex
Both Rovex and BayCare expect to learn more
Rovex has not needed to adapt its systems for BayCare, but the partners are already learning from the pilot, said Crabb.
“We did not customize the underlying hardware or software specifically for BayCare’s environment ahead of the pilot,” he said. “Our approach is to build a system that can generalize across various hospital settings, while still learning the specifics of each site through mapping, workflow analysis, and phased deployment. We have already completed initial mapping work as part of the pilot kickoff, and that is a key part of how we understand routes, transport patterns, and operational opportunities within the hospital.”
Through this pilot, BayCare said it can evaluate how emerging technologies like robotics can complement existing workflows, support safe operations, and improve resilience.
“What’s most compelling about this pilot is the chance to closely evaluate and learn,” said Dr. Chris Bucciarelli, BayCare’s vice president of ambulatory services and chief medical officer.
“By carefully studying how robotics may support patient transport in a real hospital environment, we can generate insights that extend well beyond one facility,” he said. “Those learnings have the potential to inform how health systems everywhere think about designing care environments that better support both patients and the people who care for them.”
The Rovex robot is not transporting patients during the pilot at BayCare’s facility. Source: Rovex
The post Rovex and BayCare partner to explore in-hospital transport robots appeared first on The Robot Report.
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