KeyScan Access Control Systems Safeguard Alexian Brother’s Behavioral Health Hospital In The United States

The Keyscan system’s day to day functionality has created incredible peace of mind for ABH

Hospital security is always a sensitive issue. Ensuring people’s safety when they are at their most vulnerable is never an easy task. So when the Alexian Brother’s Behavioral Health Hospital decided it was time to upgrade their security system, they were looking for a solution that could resolve a unique set of challenges.

Director of Facilities Maintenance/ Construction for Alexian Brother’s Behavioral Health Hospital (ABH) Mr. Albert Lay began to search for an alternative to traditional locks and keys, which were not effectively securing the facility. In one year alone the ABH spent over $40,000 on re-keying doors to ensure the level of security required in a behavioral health hospital. With regular keys however there was no audit trail, no way of knowing who had been entering and leaving any area of the hospital, and theft was becoming a problem. The entire situation was a nightmare, as Mr. Lay describes “everyone had the master key, and the keys could be duplicated. The problem grew to the point where we did not know who had keys to what. There was a litany of theft and incidents of people gaining access to offices where they shouldn't be.”

When Video and Sound Service introduced the Keyscan system to ABH employees they were very excited by the possibility of keyless entry. Mr. Mark Lesmeister, System design and sales with Video and Sound Service, was able to show how the Keyscan system would solve issues unique to every user group in the hospital, from administration, maintenance, physicians and nurses. Keyscan regional manager Mr. Bill Constien was also present for meetings with the staff to ensure that all of their concerns were addressed. Mr. Lesmeister commented that “having Bill there was great, because ABH had confidence in Video and Sound, but his presentation let them know that the product runs deeper than that, and that they would be getting factory support.”

Once the decision to go with Keyscan was finalised, the technicians at Video and Sound set out to modernise ABH with Keyscan access control. With over 80 doors secured, and currently over 1000 card holders, the system was implemented in phases and continues to expand. Currently the hospital has all staff entrances, maintenance rooms, all unit entrances, many offices, and their parking garage secured by Keyscan access control. Mr. Lesmeister oversaw the installation of the system, and is confident that Keyscan was the right way to go. “Keyscan gives more than enough performance at a far better value over similar access systems.”

One major concern that the Keyscan system was able to put to rest was its operation on the hospital’s network. Network capability was a major factor for ABH. They needed to be sure that their access control would not slow down their network, and have been pleased with the Keyscan systems minimal bandwidth requirement. Each of the three floors of the hospital has a cluster of panels that are connected to the T1 network.

The Keyscan system’s day to day functionality has created incredible peace of mind for ABH, and has single handedly improved the safety of its personnel and the surrounding community. ABH are now able to keep track of who has ingressed and egressed from every area of the hospital, which is particularly helpful to the security of inpatient areas.

“A high, high level of security is necessary with the type of individuals that are being treated at the hospital” says Mr. Lesmeister. With the Keyscan system and the elimination of master keys, the hospital can now limit the access of their employees to specific areas, and always have an audit trail recording where each individual has traveled throughout the facility.

Since the installation of the access control system, Mr. Lay, ABH’s Director of Security has leveraged Keyscan’s “out of the box” functionality coupled with his incredible vision to deliver a cashless cafeteria for ABH. Video and Sound Service installed a Keyscan connected reader at each cashier check out point in the hospital’s cafeteria. Mr. Lay further discuses ABH’s cashless cafeteria implementation, “We have set a designated fee for physician's meals. Each physician who has access to the building of Security has leveraged Keyscan’s “out of the box” functionality coupled with his incredible vision to deliver a cashless cafeteria for ABH. Video and Sound Service installed a Keyscan connected reader at each cashier check out point in the hospital’s cafeteria.” Mr. Lay further discusses ABH’s cashless cafeteria implementation, “We have set a designated fee for physician's meals. Each physician who has access to the building is automatically enrolled in the program. Our vision is to dramatically reduce queuing and increase throughput for our cafeteria. Physicians are asked to present their keyless entry card to the cafeteria checkout reader, a green light/access granted will indicate that they are approved for the lunch program and their meal is to be billed to the hospital and subsequently the physician.”

Each transaction at the cafeteria readers is equal to a set pre-defined meal charge. Regular reports on cafeteria reader transactions are sent to accounting, they import Keyscan’s transaction report into excel to tabulate payment for the food service provider and physician billing. Removing this cafeteria privilege when needed is as easy as adjusting the individuals permissions for the cafeteria readers just like removing access to a particular door. While this is not a traditional use of access control, it was easily set up with Keyscan and saves ABH significant time and resources. Mr. Lay comments, “the Keyscan system can be used for all kinds of different applications. Currently we are looking to use the Keyscan for clinical nursing, to track drugs coming out of the med rooms, because they are very sensitive areas.”

The installation of the Keyscan system has been a major benefit for the hospital. “Our return on investment with Keyscan was about a year, because we were spending so much money on keys. Since the system was installed we have been able to lower incidences of patients eloping into public spaces, and the control over staff access has been incredible.”

Plans to utilize Keyscan’s photo badging capability and integrate with CCTV are underway. Mr. Lesmeister can attest to the success ABH has had with Keyscan. “Just the kind of hospital it is, you've got a little bit of everything from a requirement and security perspective, each requiring different levels of access control and security. Keyscan has been able to address all of those unique issues and more. They have been very happy with their system.”