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| ISONAS system was well received and expanded to additional departments |
Moundview Memorial Hospital & Clinics meets the healthcare needs of Adams County, Wisconsin and the surrounding area. Located in the central Wisconsin Village of Friendship, surrounded by beautiful farm lands, the original hospital was dedicated in July 1959. The original hospital featured a surgery suite, maternity ward, emergency room, laboratory, x-ray room, and support services, along with a total of 24 patient beds. Today’s Moundview Memorial has grown to offer a variety of services including 24-hour emergency care, clinic, inpatient care, outpatient services, diagnostic testing, surgical procedures and senior services. The motivating goal of the network is to provide accessible, affordable, high quality health care via the main hospital in Friendship and through a series of related rural clinics and specialty services with consulting medical staff from larger metro areas that visit on a regular basis.
Ability To Remotely Lock Down Controlled Area
In 2010 the hospital decided to upgrade its physical security infrastructure with an access control system. “Previously we basically tried to control access to important operational locations within the hospital with a series of keys that were shared by individuals with a need to enter those locations,” states Jim Franckowiak, Moundview Memorial’s Director of Information Technology. “We routinely found ourselves having to track down keys and replace not only keys but locks as well if the keys were lost or if an employee left and forgot to turn their keys in.” Prior to installing the ISONAS system Mr. Franckowiak surveyed access control products to determine what system would best fit the hospital’s needs? Key criteria were ease of installation, complete access control functionality including the ability to remotely lock down a controlled area if necessary, and the ability to manage the system via the internet. “We settled on the ISONAS system which has given us everything we were looking for and proved to be the most cost effective system as well.”
The ISONAS system was acquired from Kondor Security, Inc. in St. Albans, MO, a value-added ISONAS distribution partner. The system was initially installed on a trial basis in a medical supplies storage area which had previously created difficulties for nurses needing supplies during late night shifts. The trial was well received and the installation was expanded to additional departments including the pharmacy, the IT server room, the emergency treatment facilities, and the mail room.
Enables Addition Of Access Privileges For Specific Areas
The IT staff utilizes the Crystal Matrix EasyWeb application for day-to-day management of configuration and administration tasks for the system. The EasyWeb application enables the adding of access privileges for specific areas for a casual employee on a single day basis or for a vendor that needs access to a certain area for maintenance or other tasks. And now when an employee leaves his or her access can be removed immediately.
"Having web access to the system from my iPad is really convenient since it allows me to provide access to any door in the system no matter where I am at the moment," says Jim Franckowiak, Moundview Memorial’s IT Director |
“Having web access to the system from my iPad is really convenient since it allows me to provide access to any door in the system no matter where I am at the moment,” says Mr. Franckowiak.
The new system allows administrators at Moundview Memorial to provide accountability that was not previously available since the system automatically logs the identity of each person entering a door or accessing a facility along with the time of entry.
Installation of the hardware associated with the system was done by in-house maintenance personnel who installed the low voltage Cat5 cabling, the ISONAS PowerNet reader controllers and the other door hardware such as locks and sensors.
The IT department configured the Crystal Matrix software and has found it to be easy to learn and maintain.
An IP-Enabled Solution
Since the ISONAS door access system is an IP-enabled solution, it can be easily and remotely upgraded with new features as they become available. This helps ensure the future proofing of the solution while providing the hospital with a reduced cost of ownership. Expansion of the system is easy as well and can be budgeted one door at a time if desired.
“Superior physical security applied to the security realities of today’s healthcare facilities environment is what we were after,” says Jim Franckowiak, “and we are happy to be able to say that we received exactly that in an economical manner to boot.”
