Infection and inflammation are common complications that seriously affect the functionality and longevity of implanted medical implants. Systemic administration of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs often cannot achieve sufficient local concentration to be effective, and elicits serious side effects. Local delivery of therapeutics from drug-eluting coatings presents a promising solution. However, hydrophobic and thick coatings are commonly used to ensure sufficient drug loading and sustained release, which may limit tissue integration and tissue device communications. A calcium-mediated drug delivery mechanism was developed and characterized in this study. This novel mechanism allows controlled, sustained release of minocycline, an effective antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug, from nanoscale thin hydrophilic polyelectrolyte multilayers for over 35 days at physiologically relevant concentrations. pH-responsive minocycline release was observed as the chelation between minocycline and Ca(2+) is less stable at acidic pH, enabling 'smart' drug delivery in response to infection and/or inflammation-induced tissue acidosis. The release kinetics of minocycline can be controlled by varying initial loading, Ca(2+) concentration, and Ca(2+) incorporation into different layers, enabling facile development of implant coatings with versatile release kinetics. This drug delivery platform can potentially be used for releasing any drug that has high Ca(2+) binding affinity, enabling its use in a variety of biomedical applications.