RACS 5 Access Control System at the Multidisciplinary Regional Hospital in Gorzow Wlkp.

After analysing the solutions available on the market, it was decided to choose the RACS 5 access control system from Roger, a domestic, Polish manufacturer. This was influenced by such factors as the functionality of the system, the stability of its operation (confirmed by realisations in other prestigious healthcare facilities as well as other facilities), the producer’s good reputation, and the availability of the product. Attractive pricing and the availability of free technical support were also important. It was felt that these factors would translate into an efficient investment.

The installation of the first doors within the RACS 5 access control system as a pilot was executed at the turn of 2018/2019, serving to gather experience in the use of the system and learn about its practical capabilities and management. This made it possible to clarify the functional assumptions for its further development, which was carried out with the involvement of local installers.

The implementation of the system began with the introduction of employee badges, followed by the launch of access control at individual entrances. Initially, this covered entrances to buildings at specific times.

The timing of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the expansion of the system, forcing the control of individual wards, floors, operating theatres, and staircases, as well as exits and escape routes, in order to limit the possibility of free movement around the facility. In addition to this, the lifts were also controlled, making it possible to clearly separate their use by patients and staff.

The positive experience with door access control prompted the investor to extend the system’s scope of application during renovation and modernisation work. It turned out that the RACS 5 system offers the possibility of using MC16-LRC controllers to manage access to cabinets and lockers, which made it possible to extend electronic access control to employees’ lockers as well, linking access rights to the badges already in use.

The MC16-LRC controller can work with any electrically operated wired locks. The user gains access to the locker after identification at the reader associated with the locker. It is also possible to configure the system in such a way that a single reader serves many or even all lockers. In this variant, once a user is recognised, the controller analyses his/her rights and opens those cabinets for which he/she is authorised.

The locker system is managed and monitored by the same software as the door access control system. Both solutions use the same database and the same list of users, making the management of users and their access rights to lockers and doors easy and transparent.

The first lockers were covered by electronic access control when the changing rooms were refurbished in early 2022. Currently, all newly installed lockers are integrated into the system.

Among many of the RACS 5 access control system features, there are some specific ones often used in healthcare objects, such as interlocking. The hospital is using the feature with success in dedicated places. RACS 5 system is open for integration with third-party solutions. It enabled the hospital to link via API interface the data obtained from selected readers to an external Time and Attendance (T&A) system.

On most doors and passages the MCT12 readers were installed, in versions with and without I/O lines support (depending on the location and needs), while in representative areas MCT80M readers from the QUADRUS design line were used.

Currently, the RACS 5 system supports 476 doors and 572 lockers used by more than 3,200 users.

The hospital’s plans include expansion of the system, which should eventually include another 500 lockers and doors. New ones are being added on an ongoing basis and existing ones are upgraded to become part of the system.

It is also envisaged that medical equipment handling will be integrated into the access control system, allowing it to record who uses it and when.

Eliminating the previously used standalone access control methods based on traditional keys and PIN codes and centralising the management of the access control system allowed for its considerable automation, which significantly facilitated its operation and reduced administration costs. The system operating at the Gorzow hospital is successfully managed locally by the IT department.

The implementation of access control to doors and lockers based on a single database both increased the level of security and convenience of use by eliminating keys and controlling who had access and when.

Easy and flexible user and schedule management including adding, deleting, and modifying access rights or time rules without disrupting the system’s operation, as well as handling external employees/companies – outsourcing enables efficient administration, even though it is used by several thousand people a day. As a result, the hospital has gained full control both on an ongoing and historical basis of the movement of people and access to rooms and staff lockers at every location where implementation of the RACS 5 access control system has been carried out.

The adopted solution using proximity cards together with the application of advanced access control functions (e.g., interlocking, lifts access control) also made it possible to increase hygiene levels by reducing contact with potential sources of infection.

The scalability of the solution in terms of the number of doors and users and its flexibility allow ongoing expansion with uninterrupted system operation. This does not disrupt the hospital’s operations and also allows the implementation of new functionalities e.g., integration with VSS, LPR.