Drones to deliver health supplies in Tampa Bay in 2027

Starting in 2027, some medical patients in the Tampa Bay area could be able to get their medications delivered by drone. BayCare, a nonprofit health care system based in Clearwater, has launched a partnership with Zipline, which bills itself as the world’s largest autonomous delivery service approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, to offer on-demand, contactless drone delivery.

Here’s how it will work: A provider will place an order into a Zipline Dropbox at a designated BayCare site, where the electric drone will retrieve the order and fly to its destination, whether it is a patient’s yard or another facility, according to a statement. 

Once it arrives, the drone will remain up to 300 feet in the air while a tether drops to the ground with a pod containing the order. Even in high winds and inclement weather, the statement says, the pod will be able to make precise deliveries. Through the process, patients and providers will be able to track the delivery. Finally, the drone will leave the order before flying back to one of two charging stations in Pinellas County. The devices will be housed when not in use at BayCare’s HomeCare and Morton Plant facilities, according to BayCare Vice President of Innovation Craig Anderson.

Specifically, the service will be able to help patients who are homebound due to illness or physical condition, according to Anderson. The drones will deliver urgent lab samples, materials and approved pharmaceuticals between BayCare sites and eventually to patient homes, he says. Zipline will not access any BayCare patient information and will only collect data like weight, volume and handling instructions for packages.

“At BayCare, we’re always looking for ways to remove barriers and make it easier for patients to get the care they need,” BayCare President and CEO Stephanie Conners says in the statement. “This new delivery option allows us to serve customers more quickly and reliably while giving patients more flexibility and convenience. It’s one more way we’re extending care beyond our walls and closer to home.”

The drone delivery network is expected to launch in late 2027, with service beginning in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area before expanding across Tampa Bay, according to the statement. Zipline will own and maintain the drones in its partnership with BayCare.

“BayCare is thinking ahead about what better healthcare delivery should look like for patients, clinicians and communities,” Zipline U.S. Markets Managing Director Hillary Brendzel says in the statement. “We want people to have great experiences with healthcare wherever they are, from hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and even right at home. Zipline will help BayCare get providers and patients the supplies they need, reliably and quickly, wherever they are.”  

Based in San Francisco, Zipline launched its drone delivery system more than a decade ago, initially providing medical supplies to remote areas in Africa. Now it serves more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities globally. It also delivers food and consumer products for companies like Chipotle and Walmart, logging more than 135 million commercial autonomous miles to date.

Zipline’s partnership with BayCare is the first publicly announced partnership for the company in Florida. Other healthcare systems it has partnered with in the United States include Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas.

BayCare posted $6.97 billion in operating revenue in 2025. The nonprofit includes 16 hospitals and employs nearly 34,000 team members. Its network also includes BayCare Urgent Care locations; laboratories; imaging services; surgical centers; multispecialty provider group BayCare Medical Group; and one of Florida’s largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare.