San Francisco General Hospital Secures Sensitive Areas With Schlage Computer-Managed (CM) Locks
CM Locks Provide Audit Trail, Save Time and Cost of Rekeying Manual Locks
FORESTVILLE, CONN. – December 11, 2003 – IR Security & Safety today announced that San Francisco General Hospital is using approximately 150 Schlage “Locknetics on Board” Computer-Managed (CM) locking systems to control access to medicine storage rooms, pharmacies, sleeping rooms and other high-security areas. The CM locksets can read both proximity card and iButton credentials for authorized access. They are used any place the hospital needs to keep track of who accessed an area and when.
"People were always breaking keys and losing them," hospital Locksmith Supervisor Armando Quintana reports. "We constantly had to rekey the locks and it was costing us a lot of money and time. This place is so big that we were rekeying all the time."
The standalone CM locking systems provide features similar to online, networked systems at a fraction of the installed cost. Quintana says it's easy to remove access privileges of former employees as well as restrict access to sensitive areas during certain hours and days of the week with the CM locking systems. He and the two locksmiths who work under him use their PCs and hand-held programming devices to reprogram the locks and maintain the system. Users, access points and access privileges can be added or modified in the system quickly and easily.
"With the CM locking systems, I don't have to change everything when someone leaves the hospital or loses a key. I just take the person's name out and their credential will be out of the system. It's only one change and, right there, you are saving a lot of money," Quintana says.
The CM locks also feature an audit trail capability that the hospital finds essential. Quintana performs a monthly audit and the audit has helped resolve incidents involving missing property.
San Francisco General Hospital employees use either proximity cards or iButtons to access the locksets. Quintana chose the CM locking systems after seeing a presentation by IR Security and Safety. "When I saw what we could do with them, I knew they would resolve my problems. I am very happy with the locksets," he said.
Employees also like the locksets, Quintana added. "It's easier for them. They would have to open the med room door many times every day. The old keys would get worn out and then they would bend and break.”
Hospital officials are requesting more and more locks, he said. "Right now I have 15 locks I need to install in the maintenance shops. We don't know who is coming into the shop and what they are doing. The CM locksets will give us an audit trail and protect our equipment," Quintana explains.
About San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco General Hospital is a licensed general acute care hospital within the Community Health Network, which is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health. SFGH provides a full complement of inpatient, outpatient, emergency, skilled nursing, diagnostic, mental health, and rehabilitation services for adults and children. It is the largest acute inpatient and rehabilitation hospital for psychiatric patients in the City. Additionally, it is the only acute hospital in San Francisco that provides twenty-four hour psychiatric emergency services and operates the only Level I Trauma Center for 1.5 million residents of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County.
About IR Security & Safety’s Electronic Access Control Division
Since 1969, IR Security & Safety’s Electronic Access Control Division (EACD) has provided premium electronic access control solutions, including electromagnetic locks, monitoring consoles, electromechanical locks and strikes, electrical and electronic exit devices, power supplies and controllers to security professionals and their customers. Leading brands such as Recognition Systems, Schlage, “Locknetics on Board” and Von Duprin comprise the Electronic Access Control Division of IR Security and Safety, which serves an international clientele from its headquarters in Forestville, Conn. Phone is 866-322-1237. The IR website is www.irco.com.
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