At Willapa Harbor Hospital, a robot used to help with diagnosing stroke and heart disease patients lacked a name – and Norma Gray helped him get it.
Willapa Harbor Hospital's Auxiliary members recently decided to sponsor a “name the robot” competition among hospital employees. The winning name, announced March 5, was suggested by Norma Gray, a longtime staffer in the hospital cafeteria.
Her selection - “Tin Man” - evokes an image of the Oz character, although the hospital's robot actually looks more like an ET with an even longer neck and without ET's neutral facial features. Even then, “Tin Man” is appropriate for several reasons.
The robot webcam is hooked up to a Telestroke Network that enables neurologists and other specialists in Olympia to diagnose emergency room patients at the South Bend hospital via remote video conferencing. What better aid than a robot – that is, Tin Man – to provide the link between local and distant medical professionals?
“Faster diagnosis and immediate treatment can often reduce or eliminate the debilitating results of a stroke,” according to a news report in a 2012 Willapa Harbor Herald article that announced hook-up to the Telestroke Network.
Gray accepted the winner's $25 gift certificate to Pioneer Grocery from Cherry Barnum, Auxiliary president. While posing for a photo, both noticed something distinctive about the newly named Tin Man.
It's unlikely there's an iota of tin anywhere on that robot.
But he's still got an important role at the hospital, and it doesn't require a trip down the yellow brick road to get his help.