PORTLAND – The new pharmacy worker at Martin’s Point Health Care Center has been nicknamed Spence – as in dispense. He doesn’t call in sick and he doesn’t take vacations.

That’s because Spence is a machine. He’s an SP200 Robotic Prescription Dispensing System – a $185,000 robot that has emerged as technology’s answer to the corner drugstore.

“Spence is taking over all the duties a traditional pharmacist has done in the past,” said Bob Falk, pharmacy manager. “Spence fills the vials. Spence labels the vials.”

The Martin’s Point robot, the only one of its kind in Maine, fills as many as 175 prescriptions a day, or about 60 percent of the prescriptions filled by the pharmacy. That’s the equivalent of the work of a half-time pharmacist.

“There’s a big shortage of pharmacists. You can’t even get them,” said Falk, who just spent six months filling an open position.

Spence checks for drug interactions and complains when a patient fills a prescription too early or if a technician tries to put a drug in the wrong drawer. It makes sure to dish out the right pills to the right people.

The 47,000 patients of Martin’s Point Health Care Center have been told about Spence in focus groups, newsletters and the company Web site. People either seem to like the idea or are neutral, said Amy Weinschenk, director of marketing and communications. Nobody has complained.

“People are expecting technology these days,” she said. “They go to the ATM. They bank online and use voice mail.”

Spence looks like a big filing cabinet with glass doors. Drawers line the cabinet, each containing one of the 200 drugs most prescribed for patients of the primary care network and its mail-order pharmacy.

“A lot of people expect [Spence] to be walking around with hands, pulling things off the shelves,” Falk said.

Instead, a robotic arm inside the cabinet grasps a brown-plastic pill bottle and holds it under a funnel at one of the drawers. The pills drop past a red laser counter and into the bottle. The arm places the bottle onto a conveyor belt, where it is slapped with a label.