Many hospitals include multiple campuses with hundreds or thousands of doors, employees, and patients to protect. The sheer size of these hospital systems creates a challenge for security executives. Acquisitions, internal growth, and out-of-date equipment complicate matters for facilities when it comes time to upgrade or completely overhaul their existing security.
A single, integrated platform for multiple system management, including security is on the top of many security professionals’ wish lists. Today, there are powerful solutions that can integrate disparate systems with a user experience that is easier to navigate than ever before.
Memorial Hermann Health System needed to centralize security across all of its locations for consistent database management and tighter security procedures. This network of 13 hospitals located in and around Houston has 5,500 affiliated physicians and 21,000 employees. The hospital system covers more than 20 million square feet of space and encompasses 1,762 doors, 1,600 cameras, and 30,000 cardholders.
Like many organizations with an expansive footprint, Memorial Hermann’s security infrastructure included dozens of offline cameras, inconsistencies in database management, unused hardware components, and a security culture as disparate as the independently operating access control systems.
Security executives decided they needed to upgrade to one Software House C•CURE 9000 security and event management platform for the entire hospital system. One of the important hurdles to clear was buy-in from all of the organization’s business units involved – something that many organizations can relate to. Part of the agreement that Memorial Hermann’s security executives made to achieve buy-in for the upgrade was to utilize existing network infrastructure for fault tolerance and resiliency, as well as budgetary restrictions.
With a plan in place, the entire security team – integrator Tech Systems Inc. and Memorial Hermann’s IT and security staff, including Corporate Security Director Geoffrey Povinelli, a member of the Software House Healthcare Advisory Council – migrated the hospital to the new security management platform with all sites centrally managed at the headquarters location. The platform integrates with the hospital system’s Hugs infant-protection product, six different video surveillance technologies, and five audio/intercom products.
More and more organizations around the world are finding answers to their management and physical security questions by centralizing security, along with other sub-systems, for one or more locations. Not only is the technology to do that readily available, but it can help an organization streamline processes, as well as save time and money not just in terms of staff, but in terms of duplicating processes and responding to events faster and more efficiently.
Learn more about Memorial Hermann Health System’s road to a centralized security system.
What concerns do you have about multi-site centralized security migration? Let me know in the comments section below.
Source: Tyco Blog
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