Transforming the Healthcare Security Environment

A large non-profit healthcare system, facing a well-documented surge in physical assaults on healthcare workers, embarked on a crucial journey to address the concern and enhance staff confidence in their physical safety at work.

A need for more confidence in the organization’s police and security programs drove this urgent need for a security transformation. The goal was to build a robust physical security environment while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere for patients, visitors, and staff.

Corporate Security Advisors was retained to assess the situation. Within a swift 120 days, the client was presented with a comprehensive security strategy and a multi-year business plan providing a detailed roadmap for implementation. This business plan not only identified financial and other resource requirements and anticipated cost avoidance, but also highlighted the risks of not addressing the identified programmatic gaps.

Our Solution

CSA understands that a business has many drivers, Security being only one of them. That’s why our focus is “The Business of Security.” Too often, businesses do not know how value is generated from security investments. CSA helped this client define the value generated by a business-focused, risk-based, and intelligence-led police and security organization. As a result of this transformation, the client expects the program to become a differentiator for their healthcare system, positively impacting staff retention and patient satisfaction.

Our Approach

Interviews and Listening Sessions

CSA’s structured executive and staff interviews and targeted “Listening Sessions” with representatives of various healthcare departments and delivery channels provided our client with deep insights into existing negative staff perceptions and security performance shortfalls.

Security Assessment

Using our assessment of existing capabilities and performance, and drawing on benchmarking from other healthcare clients and best practices from different industry verticals, we identified improvements in the organizational structure, processes, and technologies required to meet the client’s expectations.

Presentation of Potential Solutions

We presented potential solutions to our client’s project and executive teams, reaching a consensus on the comprehensive transformation strategy. Subsequently, CSA was asked to brief the Board on the strategy and business plan to solidify full leadership support.  

Implementation

Having reached an aligned strategic vision, we developed the implementation roadmap. We worked with our client’s finance team to define the resources required to accomplish the transformation within the client's determined timeframe.

Our client asked us to assist with implementing the roadmap outlined in the business plan. This included selecting the senior leadership team for the transformed police and security organization. We also designed several sub-strategies for other initiatives and led their implementation, including using weapons screening technology in the Emergency Departments of several system hospitals.

Impact

CSA’s efforts made a significant impact on our client. A senior executive stated that CSA educated them on what is possible in the security space and changed their attitude toward the role security can play.