TEAMS WORK AT HERSHEY MEDICAL CENTER

Aug 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By CAROL CAREY

Today's security systems are becoming more and more complex. At Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., teamwork between the security and information technology (IT) departments is meeting the challenge. Responsibility for protecting people, property and systems is shared by the two departments — an approach that might be appropriate for many other companies.

As information technology and security technology become more dependent on the ability of systems to multi-task, greater attention must be paid to protecting the systems.

Hershey's creation of a separate access control office as part of the IT department addresses this concern.

“My major concern is making sure contractors and outside workers are properly identified, and do in fact belong here, because obviously they can get into some very sensitive areas on the campus, such as the backbone HUB closets, where servers and IT equipment is housed,” says systems analyst/access control manager Ray Grove.

On a 550-acre campus that includes two hospitals (the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Children's Hospital), 36 housing units (with a total of 280 apartments) and Penn State College of Medicine, a Lenel OnGuard 2002 access control system is administered by Grove's access control office — part of the IT department — and consisting of himself, an assistant, and two staff members.

Grove's office works closely with the medical center's Security Department, focusing on the day-to-day operation of security systems. Daytime security supervisor David Bernardo is one of two supervisors reporting directly to the chief of security, Peter Ridge. The security department also employs 16 officers who work on three shifts, operating out of the security dispatch center located in the main hospital. A separate building houses the access control and security supervisor's offices.

Both departments use the OnGuard system, which is installed in a license server and accessed at work stations. The system integrates alarm monitoring, ID management, system administration, digital video and badge design. The system also includes communications, forms design, map design, universal interface, area access and visitor management functions.

While security and access control staff operate most of the functions within the system, Grove and his assistant are the only ones to program information with the system administrator function. “This allows us to build the mag stripe card, inputting the information that goes onto the card, such as access levels and times,” Grove says.

The ID management function monitors the access data which appears on the mag cards. This, Grove says, is where all personnel information on card holders, their access levels and times, is stored. Card traces and report generation are two features of the function. “There is even a field that allows us to learn a card holder's most recent entry point,” Grove says.

There are currently 62 card readers making up the access control system, which has been upgraded to a 164-reader capacity since its installation by Best Access Systems, Indianapolis, four years ago. The readers are connected to six of Lenel's LNL-1000 access panels, housed in network closets in different buildings, with each panel capable of receiving data from 32 readers. These panels are connected via the hospital's network to the license server, in which the OnGuard 2002 system is installed.

Grove considers the system's redundancy one of its most useful features. “If the license server is down, security temporarily loses digital video and communication with the alarm monitoring function. But, because the LNL-1000 panels contain the same information as the server, the system continues working and the panels hold all the new information they receive. When the server is up again, they will send all the transactions back to the server,” says Grove.

Alarms controlled by the OnGuard 2002's alarm monitoring function include door force and door hold contacts, along with panic buttons. The location and type of alarm will appear on the monitor if an entrance point is breached; for instance, if someone tries to use an invalid badge to gain access to the building. At the same time, digital video will also be activated as long as there is a camera pointed near the alarm. “The major places that have readers have cameras,” Bernardo says.

Digital video monitoring is carried out at the security dispatch center, a 24-hour-per-day operation. Here, security officers may use the OnGuard system to view approximately 52 camera points on a 17-in. Gateway monitor. The camera system is controlled at a computer work station, with switching and multiplexing functions part of the OnGuard Video system. The camera system is also integrated to the alarm system, allowing an image to appear on the screen automatically if a nearby alarm point is breached.

Presently, a campus-wide telecommunications network, comprised of a series of backbone HUBs, is the main conduit across which the video and security data flow. However, a dedicated line for the OnGuard system is planned, and construction should begin soon, say Grove and Bernardo.

Wiring for the cameras is routed to a closet that contains digital video servers. These servers are connected to the license server (file server) via the backbone HUBs, which use either fiber optics or Cat 5 wiring.

Hershey mostly uses color Pelco and Philips (formerly Burle) cameras. There are nine PTZ cameras located on the roofs of the main hospital, University Physicians' Center, and on academic support buildings.

“The majority of the places where we have readers, we also have cameras. Through the system administration function, we're able to link specific cameras to specific readers,” Bernardo says.

Bernardo and Grove prefer the digital camera system over an analog system because of its faster speed and more streamlined structure. An existing analog system is still in use and serves primarily as a back-up to the newer digital system, which was installed in March. Presently, there are three Philips monitors (two 27-in. and one 20-in.) in use at the security dispatch center, each with its own VCR and multiplexer. The analog system functions independently of the OnGuard system.

“Our plans are to continue utilizing the visual images from the analog system through the monitors but to phase out the VCRs, recording all video on the DVRs,” Bernardo says.

“The digital system records 3.5 fps, while a traditional VCR with the analog system records one frame every six seconds,” says Bernardo. “But, there are other, more significant differences. To review an analog tape you've got to suspend current recording, go back and actually find a specific time and place. It's very time consuming. With the digital system, you can instantly pull up a camera on the monitor and input the time frame to get an instant recording. This same process could take 15 to 20 minutes on an analog system. And, you don't have to stop recording while you're reviewing a frame.”

Such access to camera records has already proven the value of the digital system to Bernardo and Grove, who were recently able to identify perpetrators who had been preying on hospital visitors.

“There were a couple of guys who had attempted to pick the pockets of visitors on one of our elevators in the main hospital,” Bernardo says. “Immediately after the incident occurred, we were called. Witnesses told us what had happened and described the individuals. We went to our DVR, put in the time frame, and obtained footage of the people involved within seconds. We caught them coming into the building on one camera, down the main hallway on another, and into an elevator on a third. We immediately gave the footage to the police.”

The footage strengthened the police's case against the individuals, who had already been identified as preying upon visitors in another area hospital. Another advantage of the digital system over analog, adds Grove, is that pictures of perpetrators suspected of preying on hospitals could be instantly sent over the Internet to other area hospitals.

Grove describes another circumstance when the OnGuard system facilitated apprehending perpetrators — this time, it involved individuals who attempted to compromise the medical center's telecommunications network. In this case, it was the system's integration of functions that enabled the individuals to be caught before significant damage was done.

“We became aware of some problems on the network,” says Grove. “Because we were able to track which individuals had access to the backbone HUBs during particular time frames, we were able to identify these people instantly and they were terminated from their positions that same day, averting any serious damage.”

Discussing rules covering outside workers, Grove states that their access to the campus is generally restricted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays; they must get special permission to have additional hours programmed into their ID badges.

About 7,000 permanent employees, including medical students, faculty and hospital staff have been badged, says Grove. This number becomes more than 8,000 people when miscellaneous and temporary workers are included. An Eltron P420 card printer by Zebra Technologies of Camarillo, Calif. prints the mag-stripe cards. All the cards are picture badges. In the case of temporary workers, information on the badges includes name, sex, company for which they work, individual at the hospital responsible for their presence, and an expiration date when their term of service will end.

In addition to the electronic systems, Hershey also utilizes an extensive, computerized key system by Best Access Systems. “We literally have thousands of keys and cores, which we use in the housing complexes, within hospital suites, equipment closets, labs and in any other locations that are considered sensitive,” Grove says. “The Keystone 600 program for key management allows me to identify what person has the key to which location, when she received it, if additional keys have been issued, and the number of areas to which they key holder has access.”

Building on a solid foundation of basic security systems, Hershey has added and upgraded a state-of-the art access control system that integrates alarm monitoring and digital video. With plans in place for a dedicated access control network, Grove and Bernardo are confident that the integrity and success of their security program will be further reinforced.

FOR THE RECORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carol Carey is a Monroe, N.Y.- based writer and regular contributor to Access Control & Security Systems.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

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Best Access Systems	3
Eltron (Zebra)	4
Lenel	5
Pelco	6
Philips	7

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