Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences Installs Aiphone Emergency Towers
IX Series improves parking lot security for campus employees and visitors
Baycrest Health Sciences, a Toronto-based global leader in geriatric healthcare and research – with a special focus on brain health and aging – recently installed Aiphone IX Series emergency towers in its 500-space parking lot to improve the safety and security of employees and visitors.
The Baycrest campus facility includes a 330-bed hospital, 472-bed long-term care and 171- unit residential assisted living facility and the internationally recognized Rotman Research Institute on its 22-acre campus. The hospital is also fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
According to Martin Green, Baycrest’s manager of security, telecommunications and emergency preparedness, three new Aiphone IX Series emergency towers in the parking lot replaced a system that had become unreliable.
“While upgrading our security equipment we recognized we needed a higher caliber parking lot emergency system,” he said. “The choice of the Aiphone IX System towers was easy as we were already successfully using other Aiphone intercoms throughout the hospital.”
An Aiphone IX Series door station is mounted at the main public entry and used by security staff to remotely buzz in visitors when the door is locked at 9 p.m. Eight other entries use Aiphone’s LEF Series audio intercoms as do two doors into the hospital’s memory care unit.
Green said he likes the high visibility of the parking lot towers, each topped with a bright blue light. Once the emergency button is pushed, a call is received in the hospital’s security operations center where officers can see and speak with the caller to determine what response is required. A second non-emergency button lets visitors seek help for a dead car battery or directions to a patient’s room.
“My staff is extremely happy with the towers,” said Green, who also serves as president of the International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety. “And the reaction from employees and visitors has been very positive.”
Bruce Czerwinski, U.S. general sales manager for Aiphone, said the IX Series towers are ideal for campus settings like Baycrest, providing flexible IP-based network connections that eliminate the expense of monthly phone bills.
“Baycrest is known for its care and compassion for those suffering from brain diseases,” he said. “It’s showing the same level of dedication to protecting employees and visitors using the parking lot.”