Hospital Campus Secure - University Hospital, the teaching hospital of San Antonio

Hospital Campus Secure

University Hospital, the teaching hospital of San Antonio's University Health Systems is a sprawling campus in the South Texas Medical Center, and one of the health system's 23 locations across the community that needed the latest security technology.

The Bexer County Hospital District, doing business as University Health System has been tech-savvy for years, and it shows as they are a nationally recognized teaching hospital, and consistently recognized as a leader in advanced treatment options, new technologies and clinical research. With this type of recognition for medical efforts, the hospital, which is owned by the people of Bexar County, wanted a complimentary security system.

"There are currently more than 1,400 cameras being used at our sites," said AJ Sandoval, Bexer County Hospital District chief of police. "We are currently transitioning from analog to all IP cameras as the need to install or replace arises. These cameras area an invaluable tool, which allows us to offer a higher level of safety and security to the patients, visitors and staff who choose to use University Health System for their healthcare needs."

Over the course of 20 plus years, the university's Protective Services department has worked with access and video technology that was quickly becoming obsolete. The technology was not user friendly and was not easy to integrate with additional components. Upkeep of the older technology was becoming costly and no longer of value. During a recent Capital Improvement Project, the need to grow and address growing pains was addressed, with the idea in mind that the facilities needed to build, in stages, a new system.

Meeting these technical expectations also meant hiring an integrator who knew how to get the job done, right, and had their own support to back them up.

University Health System awarded the contract to Walker Engineering of San Antonio, who had recently been named as a commercial integrator of the year, and has recently been awarded three contracts; valued at more than $20 million each. The University Health System contract included more than 1 million square feet and was worth more than $44 million. University Health System also wanted an on-time delivery of its security system, and a successful collaboration with Datacom Design Group, who was the technology systems consultant for University Health System.

Walker Engineering's Matt Kenjura, who was the integrator, knew that getting products on time meant using the right technology. He ordered 600 Axis Communications cameras, 800 HID Global card readers and the Software House CCure 9000 for access control. At the front end of this technology, he deployed Salient Systems' CompleteView VMS.

"Because this is a publicly funded project, one of the first things we wanted to do was buy local," Kenjura said. "In the case of VMS, we have a long history with Salient, and we feel the end user will find an ease of use with this configuration."

A major project goal has been transitioning from existing analog cameras to new IP cameras. Salient CompleteView was a perfect fit because of its hybrid architecture, allowing for a connection of analog cameras without requiring the purchase of third-party encoders. This hybrid capability provided another major economic benefit beyond the cost savings on encoders; when switching out analog cameras for new IP cameras, the hybrid analog port on a CompleteView NVR can be converted to an IP camera license without purchasing additional software licenses.

"One of the key benefits of CompleteView is the ability to use software licenses regardless of whether a camera is analog or IP" said Brian Carle, director of product strategy for Salient. "Once a license is purchased it can be used regardless of the camera technology in place, providing the best total cost of ownership in VMS when transitioning from analog to IP."

One of the very important features of the VMS is the ability to aggregate the technology with the Cinemassive Video wall. This allows command and control operators to view various locations in real time and provide much needed pre-arrival information to officers responding to calls for service. The operations center has teams around the clock.

Dynamic Resolution Scaling, a feature of CompleteView VMS, allows offsite camera video feeds to be transmitted at the highest possible quality using the lowest possible bandwidth to the command and control center. Officers can respond to security events more efficiently due to fast call up of high quality video feeds.

The combined solution also provides integration between the video and access control systems. The integrated systems provide superior situational awareness as compared to using both systems independently. In the CCURE interface, video and events from CompleteView VMS are automatically tied to access control events, allowing for visual verification. Events from CCURE 9000 cause CompleteView to automatically call up video on screen calling attention to key camera events in the command and control center.

The command and control center is literally the center of intelligence at the medical facility, including air conditioning, fire alarms and infrastructure. Mostly, however, it is about making sure people are secure in this setting.

"The mission of the Bexar county Hospital District Police Department is to maintain social order and provide professional law enforcement and security services to our community, within prescribed ethical, budgetary and constitutional constraints," Sandoval said. "We are always mindful that our agency exists to protect and enhance the healthcare delivery process."

Hundreds of thousands of patients and visitors pass through University Hospital and the ambulatory facilities every year. Some may be unfamiliar with the facilities, so police officers and security ambassadors offer hospitality, care and kindness that the health system is known for.

"This service is enhanced with systems, like Salient, designed to assist in delivering professional public service," said Sandoval, who has more than 35 years of experience in law enforcement and in the corporate environment.

He said that being able to integrate the essential public safety components in combination with the ability to develop positive relationships in this diverse environment is something he has developed with his experience.

Like the chief, Kenjura believes when he is asked to integrate new security equipment, this requires best of breed solutions.

Featured

  • The Business Case for Video Analytics: Understanding the Real ROI

    For security professionals who may be hesitant to invest in video analytics, now's the time to reconsider. In a newly released Omdia report commissioned by BriefCam (now Milestone Systems), the research firm uncovered a compelling story: more than 85% of North American and European organizations that use video analytics achieve a return on investment within just one year. The study, which surveyed 140 end users across multiple industries, demonstrates that security technology is no longer just for security — it's a cross-organizational tool that delivers measurable business value far beyond traditional safety applications. Read Now

  • Survey: 54% of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization

    Modernizing identity systems is proving difficult for organizations due to two key challenges: decades of accumulated Identity and Access Management (IAM) technical debt and the complexity of managing access across multiple identity providers (IDPs). These findings come from the new Strata Identity-commissioned report, State of Multi-Cloud Identity: Insights and Trends for 2025. The report, based on survey data from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), highlights trends and challenges in securing cloud environments. The CSA is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. Read Now

  • Study: Only 35 Percent of Companies Include Cybersecurity Teams When Implementing AI

    Only 35 percent of cybersecurity professionals or teams are involved in the development of policy governing the use of AI technology in their enterprise, and nearly half (45 percent) report no involvement in the development, onboarding, or implementation of AI solutions, according to the recently released 2024 State of Cybersecurity survey report from ISACA, a global professional association advancing trust in technology. Read Now

  • New Report Series Highlights E-Commerce Threats, Fraud Against Retailers

    Trustwave, a cybersecurity and managed security services provider, recently released a series of reports detailing the threats facing the retail sector, marking the second year of its ongoing research into these critical security issues. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities 3

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3