Nationwide Children's Hospital

Dan Yaross

As security management practitioners, regardless of which industry we work, to create and maintain a safe / secure environment, we need a holistic approach to mitigate risks to our organizations.  Even if we have enough security officers, which most probably would say they don’t, typically staff by themselves are not an effective mitigation strategy to protect our work environments.

Many of our work sites due to operational practicalities, are not secured like a military installation or prison.  To be successful, they need to be welcoming and open for business.  I serve in one of these environments – healthcare.  More specifically, in the pediatric hospital setting.  Yes, those of us in the industry would probably like to install significantly more restrictive access to our buildings;however, it just is not practical.  One key reason is due to the patient / family frustration levels caused by extensive periods of time to be processed through a limited number of buildings’ entrances.

With the ever-increasing unexplainable gun violence occurring Nationally, a healthcare security department’s role is to take all possible steps in maintaining an environment where all occupants are safe, and the medical team can solely focus on their core responsibilities - taking care of patients and not worrying about their own safety.  It is truly a balancing act with incorporating various mitigation strategies to protect our organizationswhile not adversely impacting operational efficiencies.

“With the ever-increasing unexplainable gun violence occurring Nationally, a healthcare security department’s role is to take all possible steps in maintaining an environment where all occupants are safe, and the medical team can solely focus on their core responsibilities”

In the military, we commonly used a term called, “Force Multipliers”.  In healthcare security management, I would refer to the security technology systems that we continually research and when able, purchase as our “force multipliers”.  Our officers utilize the following systems to enhance their overall effectiveness, to include a robust access control system, video management system, visitor management system and a guest worker vetting and badging system.  In the pediatric hospital environment compared to adult facilities, many organizations implement more stringent visitor screening procedures.  At Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, we usea visitor management system that creates visitor badges.  During the process, the system utilizes a link to a Nationalsexual offender website.  If a person is found to be a convicted sexual offender and is not a parent, grandparent, or guardian, they are not provided a visitor’s badge and is asked to leave property.  If a parent, grandparent, or guardian is a convicted offender, the hospital creates a customized safety plan for a curtailed visit to an inpatient unit.

Continuing with the “force multiplier” theme, officers have the ability in the dispatch center to be patrolling virtually with the video management system.  If done properly, virtual patrolling can easily represent an additional several officers patrolling the property. 

So, with all of that said, to answer the article’s title, “Who needs all of this technology stuff?” ----- We all do!