Medical News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Schlage CM Series Programmable Locks
Provide Flexibilities at Los Robles Regional Medical Center

Nurses Prefer ?No Keys? Operation ? Migration Path to Proximity in Place

FORESTVILLE, CONN. ? January 28, 2003 ? IR Security & Safety?s Electronic Access Control Division (EACD) today announced that Los Robles Regional Medical Center (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) is securing supplies while enhancing its nurses? accessibility to them with a ?Locknetics On Board? standalone access control locking system.

Nurses at the 256-bed acute care facility 25 miles west of Los Angeles obtain access to the many openings secured with Schlage CM locks by entering their own unique access code. No keys are needed to open the battery-operated locksets.

?Over the past year, we?ve been replacing our former locking system with the ?Locknetics on Board? locks, which retrofit nicely over existing door holes and preparation,? reports Andy Gorgita, assistant director, plant operations for the medical center. ?They provide us with a win-win situation. Our nurses don?t like keys. They prefer the ease of use that access codes provide. I like the fact that these locks are easy to retrofit. To change a lock with our previous system, we almost had to destroy the door. Importantly, we?ll also be able to quickly upgrade these same locks as we migrate to proximity card access in the near future.?

According to Gorgita, the medical center will implement a new security system using proximity ID badges to input time and attendance. The new system will manage the facilities and doors individual employees can access. At that time, the standalone Schlage CM locks will complement the new system because, besides the presently-used keypads, they also work with other credentials such as HID proximity cards, iButtons, magnetic stripe cards, and biometric handreaders.

Implementation of Los Robles? new hardwired proximity system will be simplified with the standalone CM system. Using IR Security & Safety?s LockLink software, Gorgita can easily program the locks to use proximity cards. With it, he can group users and openings so that access privileges can be assigned in mass, reducing valuable programming time. He will also be able to enter the 5-digit hot stamp number found on the HID proximity credentials and have it translated to the corresponding identification code. This will eliminate excessive data entry and keystrokes when entering large volumes of the new proximity credentials.

Gorgita will be able to give each user his/her own credential, assign time dependent access privileges if desired, and even download audits by simply connecting a laptop having LockLink software to the CM lock. If something happens, Gorgita or his staff can attach a laptop or handheld PDA to the lock and download the last 1000 events. This will allow the medical center to keep close track of who went into any specific location and at what time.

About Los Robles Regional Medical Center
Los Robles Regional Medical Center is a 265-bed acute care facility dedicated to serving residents of Ventura County, the Greater Conejo Valley and its communities. The hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and is a member of numerous local, state and national health professional organizations. With 400 physicians on its medical staff representing over 30 medical specialties, Los Robles offers a full array of medical and surgical departments, comprehensive cancer center, heart center, same day surgery, transitional care unit, Acute Rehab Unit and senior behavioral health. Built in 1968, the medical center has consistently earned top honors throughout the state and 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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For a downloadable, high-resolution photograph of Gorgita and a CM lock at Los Robles Medical Center, go to www.brighamscully.com and click Photographs/IR Security & Safety.

For more information?
Jeff Koziol
IR SECURITY & SAFETY
860-314-5209
jeff_koziol@irco.com    

or

Tom Brigham   
   
   
    
    

BRIGHAM SCULLY   
   
   
   

818-716-9021   
   
   
    
    

tbrigham@brighamscully.com