Private and Secure

Autumn of Sarasota improves access control

• By Rachel Williams
• Sep 01, 2015

Autumn of Sarasota is a memory care community located in Sarasota, Florida. The facility houses more than 45 residents and 40 staff are on hand at the 53,000 square foot location. Autumn of Sarasota is using Paxton’s access control to ensure patient privacy and safety.

The owners and management have created a place of hope to make the experience easier on families and help residents greet each day with courage. Trained by the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute as well as the Alzheimer’s Association, Autumn’s staff members receive continuing education to keep thinking ahead and, to anticipate every need for residents with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lewy body, and other forms of dementia.

Feeling Confident

Jim Soper, CEO at Autumn, wanted the residents to feel confident in the safety that was being provided for them. He said, “Privacy was an important issue that we needed to address when we were in the design phase. Making sure no one could enter a room unless they had access permissions ensured that the residents can have peace of mind and will not be intruded on.”

The management needed to make sure the residents in their care were safe and secure in their rooms and within the facility itself. With an on-site pharmacy, securing and monitoring certain areas was also a priority.

Autumn tested eight different systems before deciding on Paxton’s Net2 with long range capabilities. The 97 readers are on every resident’s door and throughout the building, including the exits, kitchen, elevator and pharmacy room.

Hands-free Interface

Viking Security installed Net2 plus controllers for the doors in the building. P200 readers with long range extender are used on the resident’s rooms. Residents use a Long Range hands-free fob on a lanyard to access their rooms, meaning that when they get within three feet of their door, the Long Range reader reads the token and unlocks the door. This ensures the resident is accessing their own room verses their neighbors.

“Not having to re-key the doors or try to track and manage hundreds of keys is a huge plus for us,” said Kerry Bingaman, chief administrative officer. “The Net2 software is extremely intuitive and easy to use. We just add and delete users as needed. It takes seconds.”

Facility staff use Net2 keyfobs to move freely about the building, as needed. Management can also monitor who has attempted to enter the secured areas and for how long. Regular access control points use the P75 reader and all exits are equipped with KP75 keypads which allow families to visit without the need for a token.

Hands-free Technology

Net2 has proven to provide the privacy and security that Autumn of Sarasota need. “We’re already building more locations and absolutely plan to have Paxton as our access control solution moving forward,” said Robert Ross, chief development officer.

This article originally appeared in the September 2015 issue of Security Today.