Abstract: A medication delivery unit is provided for managing, storing, and delivering medication to a patient. The unit includes a rack for storing a plurality of cartridges for storing medication. Each cartridge may have drawers which are further subdivided into pill slots where individual pills or doses may be stored. A pill retrieval system positions a collection head via a gantry system for pill retrieval. The collection head draws the selected cartridge and drawer from the storage rack allowing a pill to fall into a pill receptacle. After collecting the pill(s), the gantry moves the collection head and pill receptacle to an access port where the pill(s) can be picked up by the patient. Methods are providing for loading and operating the MDU as part of a system.