Healthcare Security Gets a Check-Up

The healthcare industry is going through a digital transformation that includes upgrades to their security infrastructure and adopting the latest access control technologies and products, while leaning on security professionals for guidance. The recent Locksmith Ledger webcast on the topic featured a roundtable discussion with Wayne Winton, owner, Tri County Locksmith Service; Bernard Scaglione, associate principal, Cerami & Associates; and Steven McLemore, regional sales manager, Banner Solutions.

This expert panel looked at what healthcare facilities (from doctors’ offices to hospitals) are doing for access control. They also discussed what is driving the healthcare industry to adopt these new access control systems and products, such increasing workplace violence, a need for better staff and patient security, and better control over visitor management and the flow of people outside and inside what can be in some cases massive campuses.

Top Trends Driving Action

As unlawful entry and workplace violence against nurses and other hospital staff are at an all-time high (see Stats), the need for security is heightened in the healthcare setting, especially in hospitals.

"Violence in the workplace and cybersecurity seems to be their two biggest security problems,” says Scaglione. “And then when we talk about those types of things, you're going to see healthcare starting to install magnetometers and weapons detection systems, visitor management systems, things that they're very unfamiliar with and have not done in the past. I know during COVID, hospitals were very much locked down, but since then, some have continued to lock down and stay that way while others are opening back up to the pre-pandemic type environment."

Because hospitals tend to be older buildings, patients or visitors are wandering, trying to find where they need to go, and may go into an area where they shouldn't. "When we talk about access control, healthcare tends to be a little behind the times [compared with] other industries, but it's important that when a patient walks through the building, the doors open for where they need to go, and everything in between is locked because they really have no business being in there. And that's all about the door and the lock on the door."

McLemore adds that COVID also sped up the process of compliance in the hospital setting. “Having the front door locked, the back door locked, but also the interior areas as well. You're seeing bigger indicator [locks] on bathrooms, indicators on closets, things like that, so that you don't have to get as close to see and they're more visible for those in healthcare who might be vision impaired, for example. I think things are getting better when it comes to hospitals locking things down and keeping people where they're supposed to be."

Workplace Violence Prevention

Scaglione works closely with hospitals to come up with a strong workplace violence prevention program, which is something he would like to see more progress in as many hospitals are lagging.

“I like to focus on the process and the people,” he explains. “One of the things hospitals don't do well, which is now required by the Joint Commission, is that there needs to be a program in place where you're collecting data on violence, taking care of the victim if it happens to be an employee, and making sure that they're treated properly both physically and mentally, and that you're instituting programs that may help to reduce that potential."

And as far as healthcare is concerned, patient records and medical information about a patient must be properly secured. “That means access control, that means cameras, and that also means making sure that someone's not walking back from a waiting room into a clinical area and wandering around,” says Scaglione. “It also means securing patient names and making sure that everybody in the waiting room doesn't know the name or can't see the name of the people that are currently being treated."

While there are positive strides being made, he still sees exit doors left open, secondary entrances with no security, for example.

“We're starting to see some change, and along with that comes physical security – better locking, better access control, better CCTV … all those things are important. But I think one of the keys, since we're talking about locksmiths and locks, is really the idea that the security professional in healthcare needs to better understand the different types of locks that are out there, how they work, how they integrate with access control."

Opportunities for Locksmiths

Winton tells a story of a visit to the doctor’s office where he was able to bypass an entire hospital's new lock system with a simple $3 tool due to improperly installed electric strikes.

"They had just installed what must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of electric strikes and access control throughout this entire facility, and I was looking at it, and I just touched the door a little bit and it had too much play in it,” he explains. “The electric strikes were not installed properly to where the dead latch was not gauging the way that it needed to. And if you're in the medical field, they have a little thing called HIPAA, and that means that they need to keep your information confidential and private."

He continues, "I was able to go around with a little O-ring puller, a little L-shaped tool that's very thin that could slide in there and retract the latch back. So, I went and talked to the security team and introduced myself and showed them how I have a master key to their entire facility right here in my hands. The biggest word that you can say is liability. I got their attention because I mentioned liability and showed them the security flaws and how I could fix them.”

As Winton points out, you can buy the most expensive high security locks and strikes and have the best system in the world but if it's not installed properly and it's not functioning the way it's supposed to, “it's completely useless,” he says. “This is a perfect example as to why locksmiths need to be involved with the process, because the contractors are just not very good at installing this hardware. And they need our expertise to be able to do so. There's no point in putting all this access control and security locks and all of this stuff on the door if somebody's just going to prop it open or dog an exit device or put something in the way to make it more convenient for them.”

Scaglione agrees, noting that he has been called in after the fact only to find major flaws and mistakes in the design and installation of expensive equipment and products.

"They made the mistake of installing strikes on some doors that were actually egress paths,” he notes. “So, they had to take the strikes out and now you're stuck with a hole in the frame of the door. Yes, you can modify it, and a good locksmith can come up with some solutions but from an aesthetics point of view, it looks horrible. And again, now you're trying to line up that strike plate to make sure that the door actually closes or latches, which goes back to Wayne’s story."

Looking Beyond the Door Lock

Scaglione’s advice to locksmiths is simple: “Don't underestimate your importance when it comes to access control,” he says. “It should be more than just a lock; it should be the whole door — the hinges, the return, the door itself — so that the end user or the client can have a secure solution that works. When you come in for a particular problem or you're recommending a particular solution, make sure it's not just the lock itself but everything working together."

Winton agrees, adding, "Just letting everybody know what you do, and when you come to that door, always look at the door as a whole. I'm not trying to sell them something they don't need. I'm trying to simply tell them that you hired me to re-key your lock, but there are other problems with this door too. Would you like me to address those? And then it even leads to more — do you have door operators? We work on those too. We install them, we service them, and this is what leads to service contract work."

Both Winton and McLemore highlighted the need for security beyond just hospitals to other healthcare settings.

"There's so many more opportunities that aren't necessarily governed — your outpatient clinics, your urgent cares, your imaging centers, your surgery centers — these are very lucrative jobs for a locksmith that they can get in there and prove their value,” says McLemore. “There's a ton of demand that's growing, and we're seeing growth in products such as electric strikes, which is our No. 1 mover on the access control side; the strikes are easy to install, and it sells itself. And [fellow webcast sponsor] Salto has been a really good partner with us as well with their anti-ligature locks that have been a high mover from a wholesale standpoint."

Winton agrees, adding that locksmiths need to be better at selling these products as well as selling the fact that their knowledge and expertise bring a value beyond just choosing the right products, to installing them correctly and maintaining those locks and other equipment that is installed and needs to stay up to code.

"The highest profit margins for the locksmith, in the business sense of this industry, which I feel is often overlooked, is making sure that I can maximize those profits on every job,” he explains. “And that's done with hard-to-find items and complex items that people don't know what they are. There's that big clunky metal thing at the top of the door and it's not working and I don't know what it is and I need help with that — that's the job that I want. Door operators, hardwired access control, and high security key systems are the things I want to specialize in."

Looking to the future, the panel sees AI-integrated facial recognition, camera-linked access control, and fully tracked visitor management as the holy grail, where a visitor is registered, tracked throughout a facility, and automatically granted or denied access based on their authorization level.

Key Research on Hospitals

Healthcare-specific findings from Genetec’s 2026 State of Physical Security Report shed light on what exactly healthcare providers are seeing from the inside, and include:

·         55% reported an increase in physical attacks on employees.

·         52% saw a rise in verbal assaults.

·         50% experienced more unauthorized entry.

·         47% reported more break-ins.

·         44% saw an increase in insider theft.

The data also points to a clear shift in modernization priorities:

·         59% favor cloud or hybrid deployments for continuous updates and upgrades

·         55% plan new access control projects in 2026

·         40% plan new AI projects in 2026

·         39% prioritize greater collaboration with HR and facilities teams