Top security award granted to officers and staff at UMHHC

UMHHC’s Security and Entrance Services earn Lindberg Award from International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety




ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Keeping patients and employees safe is something everyone at the University of Michigan Health System – from physicians and nurses to security officers – takes seriously.

The University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers Security and Entrance Services earned this year’s Lindberg Bell Award from the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety.

“Thanks to everyone’s commitment to go the extra mile, we have won this award and for the next year can call ourselves the No. 1 health care security program in the country,” said Director of Hospital and Security Services Marilyn Hollier.

The mission of Security and Entrance Services is to achieve an optimal degree of personal safety, promote positive customer service and protect the physical property and assets of the patients, staff and visitors of the Health System.

With a population of 10,000 at any given time during normal business hours, the medical center campus is like a small city. The Health System officers – there are about 65 of them – are trained health care security professionals who are equipped to serve the diverse UMHHC community.

They also staff a control center which monitors the 300 cameras throughout the Health System and two fire alarm systems.

Entrance services staff provide a variety of services including greeting visitors and guests at the main entrances, overseeing valet parking and providing directions to units throughout the Health System.

The award is given to a facility that has demonstrated an outstanding health care security and/or safety program. The IAHSS awards committee looks for, among other variables, a program that is balanced, comprehensive, progressive, results- oriented and cost-effective.

The Mott Badging Station is a new concept for a children’s hospital. A year and a half ago, Security Services began providing visitor badges that must be worn while in C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and it’s made a positive impact on security and customer service, Hollier said. A similar “badging” station was created in the Emergency Department in April.

An engraved plaque bearing the IAHSS seal will be presented to the Health System during the group’s annual meeting July 1 in Vancouver, Canada. The organization has 1,600 members globally.

The role of health care security has expanded and changed in recent years. The work force must be trained to defuse potentially dangerous situations, from physical threats to terrorism.

According to the IAHSS, health care security departments create a sense of security so that patients and visitors find the facility to be open and inviting and choose it for their health care.

Plus, security departments focus on the needs and concerns of workers, so the work force finds the institution to be an employer and work place of choice.