St. Patrick Hospital receives COVID-fighting robot

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - The medical community is finding a new ally in fighting the spread of COVID-19 in the form of robots.

Hospitals are still deep in the fight against coronavirus, and Christus Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital was just donated a robot to help in that fight.

Dr. Timothy Haman is the Chief Medical Officer for St. Pat’s.

"It’s a robot that uses ultraviolet light in order to sterilize and get rid of potentially infectious organisms,” Haman said.

The TRU-D device is able to disinfect an entire room, killing deadly germs, which makes it a beneficial tool when combating COVID-19.

"Covid is certainly the biggest thing in the news right now, and it’s a great thing for us to be able to use, to be able to say that we’re doing everything we can. It’s great for that, but it’s also great for other things that we have in the hospital.”

The robot was donated by Ron Richard.

“About a year ago, my father passed away here at st. Patrick’s hospital,” Richard said. "The staff was so gracious and so kind to our family that i spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to commemorate the memory of my father and how to give back to the community at the same time.”

CEO of Christus Southwest Louisiana, Kevin Holland, says he is grateful for this helpful tool.

"Safety is our highest priority and St. Patrick hospital and Lake Area Hospital. The addition of this new technology will just give us one more tool in our tool belt to help ensure that we’re providing a safe environment to our patients.”

“I’m just incredibly grateful for the person that donated it,” Haman said. "It’s going to be a big help to us.”

The hospital staff hopes this device will help make their COVID-fighting efforts more efficient.

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