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CASSOPOLIS, Mich. – Cass Family Clinic, an independent Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving Southwest Michigan, has installed a new state-of-the-art, high-speed, vial-filling robot at its Cassopolis pharmacy, mirroring the operation at its Niles location, in order to keep up with community demand.
“Rosie,” a Parata Max 2 robot, is filled with 200 of the most popular pill medications, which are then automatically labeled, counted, dispensed, capped and sorted for Cass Family Clinic pharmacy customers. The clinic’s Niles pharmacy installed the same automated vial-filling robot, named “Arnold,” in August 2024, and has experienced improvement in the speed at which the pharmacy accurately and securely fills prescriptions.
“Since the nearby Rite Aid location closed last September, we’ve seen a 55% increase in our prescription requests – we’re now the main pharmacy for local residents and patients to get their prescriptions filled,” said Cass Family Clinic CEO Joe Gavan. “The Parata Max 2 pharmacy robot, now deployed at both of our clinics, has been instrumental in helping us efficiently manage demand and streamline our operations, ensuring we can meet the growing volume.”
The Parata Max 2 is a double-sided design to separate inventory and dispensing. It continues to operate while pharmacists replenish vials, caps and drugs, and features an internal camera that captures an image of every filled vial for verification and recordkeeping.
“For our staff, having Rosie and Arnold – our Parata Max2 robots – in our pharmacies will increase efficiency, safety, and accuracy while decreasing stress and fatigue from no longer counting the high number of prescriptions that we are now filling,” said Cass Family Clinic Pharmacy Director Kevin Klipowicz. “For our patients, we are now able to continue the fast prescription fulfillment that they are accustomed to by having their prescriptions ready after their appointment. By freeing up staff time of repeatedly counting prescriptions, they will be able to provide better patient care and answer questions more thoroughly.
“As our pharmacy staff continues to grow, our Parata Max 2 pharmacy robots have only enhanced our pharmaceutical support and are crucial to us keeping up with orders,” he added. “It is a game changer for our pharmacies.”
