Identifying the Need
The Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, a Kaleida Health facility and teaching hospital for the University at Buffalo School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is the regional center for specialized pediatric, prenatal and obstetrical services in Western New York and beyond.
In an effort to ramp up security throughout the facility, Security Director Ron Aldinger set out to find a Visitor Management system that would allow his staff to quickly and easily register each person entering the building. His main concern was finding a user-friendly system that would allow his staff to print visitor badges, including names, photos, and expiration dates, providing easy differentiation between employees and visitors throughout the facility. A visitor ID system would also create the foundation for a new security initiative, in which employees would be required, and feel empowered, to direct persons without valid ID to a central security checkpoint for registration.
The ISG Solution
When Kaleida Health was first introduced to BadgePass Visitor Manager, by LINSTAR, Inc., their local BadgePass dealer, they were “impressed with its features and functionality, but it was the price point and local service and support that won us over,” admitted Lieutenant Aldinger. “We decided to install the system immediately, at the three most critical locations for processing of visitors. We notify visitors in advance, via pre-admission checklists and other appointment confirmations, that they will be required to present a valid ID for entry to the facility. Parents and guardians are warned in advance that sex offenders and individuals with custodial revocations or Orders of Protection will not be permitted entry to the facility.”
Proven Results
The security department was initially concerned about visitor reactions to the new system, but is now delighted with how well it has been received. Aldinger commented, “Upon discharge from the hospital, random customer surveys are distributed to parents of patients. In the six month period since we have implemented BadgePass, our safety and security ratings have increased by 10%! Parents, visitors and staff members have indicated that the BadgePass system improves security significantly and that they feel safer in our facility now.”
Not only are parents enthusiastic about the increased safety for their children, but security officers at the hospital find that having the ability to quickly identify whether a person is a visitor or staff member is a real luxury and helps them perform their jobs more efficiently. “It is clearly evident whether a visitor has checked in or not now,” said Justin Selzler, a security officer at the hospital. “BadgePass makes it very comfortable for any staff member to approach unidentified persons now, and direct them to security checkpoints to be registered properly.”
BadgePass has proven to be an excellent deterrent as well. “We’ve noticed a significant decrease in visitor disturbances since implementing the system, presumably because visitors know that their data has been collected and they can be traced. Also, the banned visitor feature allows us to handle custodial issues efficiently, keeping unwanted parents and visitors away from the hospital to begin with,” Aldinger comments. “This system has been vital in helping us to increase security at our hospital and we have been delighted with the product and the local support we receive from LINSTAR. I would recommend it for any facility that needs to monitor and control visitor access as part of their security initiative.”
