Colorado Healthcare Facility Uses Web-Enabled Access Control Software, Proximity Card Readers
Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies recently announced that the Gunnison Health Care Center, a 100-employee health care facility in Gunnison, Colo., is using Schlage bright blue Web-enabled access control software and both Schlage wired and wireless proximity card readers to limit access throughout the facility.
With minimal help from his distributor, Access Hardware Supply of San Leandro, Calif., Director of Plant Operations Mike Case installed everything himself within a couple days.
The Gunnison Health Care Center at Gunnison Living Community has 59 licensed beds. It is the only long-term residential care facility in Gunnison County.
The scope of business can be separated into three general areas: skilled nursing care, Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care or the “Special Care Unit” and Hospice & Palliative Care of the Gunnison Valley. An area that is also utilized much is the rehabilitation services that include both occupational and physical therapy.
“We needed to rekey the entire facility and I did not want to have to do that,” Case said. “When I talked to Access Hardware Supply, they suggested that I take a look at the bright blue access control system because it was designed specifically for applications such as ours. It would let us access, monitor and manage our system from any computer running a standard web browser. They said the system’s plug-and-play design would make configuration easy and the embedded application would eliminate the need for special software or a dedicated PC. They were right.”
Case installed the new readers on three exterior doors and 14 indoor access points, including the medical room where they store narcotics. He plans to add more doors over time.
“Some of the doors closest to the bright blue controller are hardwired but we used wireless readers to avoid having to pull wire at the far end of the building,” Case states. “The bright blue system reads both so this made installation go much faster.”
Case set the system to unlock exterior doors between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. and unlock kitchen doors between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.
“Our kitchen staff often forgot to lock up at the end of the day so bright blue does this for them,” Case said. “Outside of these times, personnel must use their cards to either enter the facility or the kitchen.”
Since some people had been abusing the break room, Case put in video cameras and access control readers to have more control.
“With bright blue, I have a record of who has gone in and when,” he said. “I can use this information to go to the video system and pull up images. I would recommend this system to others like us. The bright blue system is easy to understand and easy to install.”