Where your taxes go: $100,000 for a pill dispenser robot in a pharmacy

A Quebec pharmacy obtained a $100,000 grant from the City to purchase a pill dispenser robot.

Pharmacies are increasingly entrusting automated devices with the difficult task of filling the small boxes that contain the different tablets that a patient must swallow over the course of a week.

This is the case of the Gélinas et Kimpton pharmacy, located in Old Quebec, which has just obtained a $100,000 grant to purchase one of these machines. This represents about a third of the cost of the robot ($297,500). The company affiliated with Familiprix also took out a $177,500 loan from Desjardins.

“The acquisition of a pill dispenser robot [permettra] to automate both the production and verification of pill dispensers, in order to respond to various productivity and labor issues and to develop sales,” it is explained in a decision-making summary from the City of Quebec.

This money was granted as part of the “Productivity component of the Entrepreneurial Vision Quebec 2026”. The funds come from the National Capital Region Fund Delegation Agreement between the minister responsible for the region and the City.

“Necessary” robots

Pharmacists no longer have the choice of whether or not to use pill dispenser robots to enable them to accomplish all of their tasks, argues Yann Gaudreault-Gosselin, vice-president of business and professional services at Familiprix.

“In a context where resources are limited and there is a lack of manpower, the automation of certain tasks is necessary so that pharmacists can concentrate in the clinic with their patients,” underlines- he in interview.

Mr. Gaudreault-Gosselin also points out that pharmacists have inherited a range of new tasks in recent years, and that they therefore have less time and resources than before to place pills by hand in small enclosures.

Depending on their size, some robots can replace up to 15 technicians, even if employees have to be hired to operate the machines.

Financing “difficult to obtain”

But pill robots are expensive, and pharmacies generally struggle to get financial support to purchase them, according to a pharmacist consulted by The newspaper who requested anonymity so as not to harm a current funding request.

“It’s very difficult to qualify,” he said, speaking of Investissement Québec’s Essor program. “The deadlines are often too long, and an entrepreneur who has a pharmacy often does not necessarily have the means to wait months before hearing about his project. The environment is evolving rapidly.”

“Those who get funding are the exception rather than the rule,” he added.