Robot joins the ranks at Spokane hospital

Hospitals across Washington state continue to struggle with staffing levels, and some are getting creative with potential ways to lighten the load for nurses.

A Spokane hospital has welcomed a robot named Moxi to its care team.

It's about 4 feet tall, it moves around the hospital on its own, and its main purpose is to help give nurses more time for patient care.

"Our nurses were spending, on average, 70 minutes out of a 12-hour shift moving equipment from here to there, getting supplies, taking specimens somewhere,” said June Altaras, executive vice president and chief quality, safety, and nursing officer for MultiCare Health Systems.

“A human being doesn't need to do that,” she said.