The Golden Years

Senior living facility has mastered key management

When Southern California senior living facility Casa de las Campanas needed to implement an effective method for managing keys, officials asked Deister Electronics to help them design a proxSafe® electronic key management system. The system had to be secure, efficient and reliable. With an average population of 570 residents, ranging across all levels of care, the facility’s management feels a strong sense of responsibility to their clients.

Like many healthcare and senior care facilities, Casa de las Campanas was cognizant of the need for greater efficiency and security required in today’s fast-paced world. They recognized the increased cost of manning key stations and log books, replacing lost keys and cylinders, and tracking down misplaced keys. Security also is a primary concern as residents, patients and families expect utmost safety when selecting a long-term care facility.

Unique Challenges

Casa is a not-for-profit continuing-care retirement community located on 24 acres in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., 25 miles north of San Diego. The 20-year-old facility measures nearly 750,000 square feet and is made up of three main complexes. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive retirement facilities in California. All levels of care are provided at Casa, which makes it a sought-after location for seniors and their families, but also presents unique security and safety management issues.

The community consists of 394 independent living apartments, 18 assisted living units, 18 assisted living dementia care units and a 99-bed skilled nursing center. Casa and its contracted management company, Life Care Services LLC, take great pride in distinguishing themselves within the senior care industry by embracing technology that improves service to the clients.

Managing keys is critical for a senior care or healthcare facility to run smoothly and efficiently. Lost or misplaced keys cost plenty in terms of both hours and dollars. At Casa, there are 18 maintenance staff and 14 security staff, all of whom need to access master key sets at varying times throughout a 24-hour period. Casa’s clients expect to be provided a safe environment, so this was an additional paramount consideration by facility management.

Selection Considerations

Casa management was no stranger to electronic key management, but their existing system did not provide the necessary level of information or usefulness. Casa needed a system that was scalable, easy to use and networkable.

The Casa facility uses the Medeco locking system for internal and exterior keys, and all the keys are managed. Every member of Casa staff carries a photo access card for time-and-attendance purposes, so management did not want to reissue additional cards for key cabinet credentials.

Casa management also needed to be able to issue temporary key access credentials to contractors working on the premises. With a facility of this size, some construction and remodeling is always taking place. Management wanted an electronic key management system that would grant them access to certain keys on a temporary basis.

Management at Casa de las Campanas carefully vetted several key control products, including the proxSafe key management system by Deister Electronics USA Inc., of Manassas, Va. Officials selected the proxSafe system based on Casa’s needs but also because of Deister’s experience with RFID technologies for security and logistics.

The proxSafe system provided a networkable system with Web-based software, as well as maintenance-free RFID key tags. Casa’s management had researched the company’s history and felt very confident in the level and longevity of technical support available.

Everyday Use of the System

On a daily basis, many departments at Casa need to use key management systems. Besides Casa’s maintenance and security personnel, there is daily key access by members of the reception, dining services and transportation staff.

For example, Casa’s transportation drivers work odd shifts supporting the activities department. A typical task is to take the residents to a baseball game or the opera. The drivers can come in at any hour and pick up keys to the vehicles. At the conclusion of the trip, the keys are returned to the key system and ready for the next driver. With the new system, Casa management no longer had to be concerned about the whereabouts of the keys.

Casa also needed a way to manage master keys. A single master key set gives access to numerous doors, so they needed to be accounted for at all times. Casa’s management strategically created separate master sets for several offices such as human resources and the administration offices. This master key is secured in the proxSafe cabinet and accessible only with a secret code. Overall, this system has provided a high level of peace of mind for management at Casa de las Campanas.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

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

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.