MultiCare turning to drones for medical deliveries with new service to start in Tacoma area
Tacoma-based MultiCare announced Thursday that the nonprofit health system would partner with Zipline for the state’s first commercial medical drone deliveries.
According to Thursday’s announcement, “Zipline’s electric, autonomous aircraft will deliver a range of medical products throughout MultiCare’s network of facilities, including hospitals, laboratories and doctors’ offices.”
Health systems elsewhere have partnered with the company, using it for service such as prescription delivery.
“MultiCare will first use Zipline’s instant delivery solution to serve facilities in the Tacoma area. The drones will deliver various medical supplies including lab samples, medications and test kits,” according to the announcement.
“The goal of the partnership is to create a faster, on-demand delivery model for MultiCare’s providers and improve the patient experience.”
The health system added, “Zipline’s electric fleet is the sustainable solution to increase healthcare access and convenience, reducing street congestion and cutting emissions by upwards of 96 percent when compared to standard modes of transport.”
Deliveries with the service are set to start in 2024, “pending regulatory approvals, and will serve Pacific Northwest constituents over the next two years,” according to the release.
Zipline, an instant logistics company, notes it has flown over 24 million miles with more than 335,000 deliveries in operations that span the United States, Japan, Rwanda and Ghana. Other corporate partners include Walmart and Toyota Tsusho, as well as government agencies and healthcare organizations worldwide.
The release said that “on average, Zipline makes a delivery once every four minutes.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 9:30 AM.
