A ‘unit-dose,’ automated dispensing system will make the dispensing of medications to patients at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital more efficient says Vancouver Island Health.
The pharmacy at NRGH is being expanded and upgraded at a total cost of $4.6 million, and $2.1 million of that price tag is for an automated system that will dispense, package and label mediations for patients at the hospital.
The system, about the size of two large vending machines, will dispense prescriptions from 520 canisters of medication at one time. Bar coded labels on the prepared packages will match barcodes on patients’ wrist bands.
VIHA’s Director for Special Projects David Leadbetter said the unit-dose system will result in a “safer medications system overall.”