Contact Us
Situation
Excela Health, located in Greensburg, PA, has three acute care hospitals that serve Westmoreland, southern Indiana and northern Fayette counties. Established in 2004, Excela Health’s services include prevention and wellness, home care and hospice, outpatient rehabilitation, diagnostic testing and imaging, and medical equipment and supplies. Their mission of “Improving the health and well-being of every life we touch” is spread through more than 4,700 employees, 585 physicians in 35 clinical specialties, 180 allied health professionals, 19 residents and more than 1,000 volunteers and auxiliary members who are the life’s blood of the health system.
Challenge
In 2012, Excela Health was researching a change in security providers. Michael Rosensteel, Manager of Emergency Management, Excela Health, took the lead on this initiative and determined that the hospital system needed to enhance their security program to ensure Excela Health was receiving the level of security they desired.
Allied Universal Security Services, a leader in healthcare security, and a provider of high quality security programs, invited Rosensteel to tour a nearby client site to showcase some of their best practices that could ultimately be implemented at Excela Health.
“When I did the tour of another Allied Universal healthcare client site, I was very impressed with the account manager model they had in place,” said Rosensteel. “It became very apparent that we needed to implement this into the Excela Health security program so we could have a dedicated manager on site who would be able to respond when needed, especially since we have three facilities.”
In June of 2012, Allied Universal was selected as Excela Health’s new provider of more than 2,000 hours per week of security services. However, the incumbent provider’s contract was ending two weeks after the Allied Universal contract was finalized and the health system needed to ensure a quick, but smooth transition of security services and personnel.
“We did not want any area of the hospital exposed to potential security threats or for anyone to even notice the transition of security providers,” said Rosensteel. “It was important that when the incumbent’s contract ended at midnight on a Saturday that Allied Universal had a transparent transition and was able to begin at 12:01 a.m. without hesitation on their part.”
Additionally, Allied Universal would need to recruit, screen, hire and train new security officers to fill any vacant positions.
“Allied Universal had to ensure that any new officers met hospital vaccination and training requirements and were acclimated to our health system,” said Rosensteel. “New employees would need to be trained and become familiar with our culture in a short window of time prior to their start date.”
Solution
Allied Universal’s local team went to work immediately to staff and prepare for the security program at Excela Health. The Allied Universal team worked closely with representatives from Excela Health to develop a transition plan and security program that would meet the health system’s needs. This included enhanced training for personnel and implementing the critical on-site management role that would be responsible for leading the program.
For three consecutive days, the team interviewed, screened and completed paperwork for the new hires at the hospital. “We tapped into all of our local resources to help bring in the right talent,” said Catherine King, Vice President, Allied Universal. “We also had the perfect candidate for the account manager position and brought him on board immediately.”
Results
Allied Universal was able to execute a seamless transition of Excela Health’s around-the-clock security program in 14 days.
“When the transition happened at midnight, I didn’t receive any phone calls which meant there were not any issues,” said Rosensteel. “Excela Health employees have noticed a difference in services provided, but didn’t notice a change in the security staff until two weeks after the transition. This meant we completed our transparent transition.”
Rosensteel said he is also very pleased with the quality of security officer Allied Universal has on site. “Allied Universal’s hiring practices are thorough and excellent,” he said. “They made sure each individual received additional training and met the hospital’s hiring requirements on top of what Allied Universal usually requires for a security officer. The officers they recruited are very valuable to Excela Health’s security program and are performing above and beyond what I ever thought was possible.” The account manager has also done very well managing Excela Health’s three acute care hospitals.“The account manager has done a great job with oversight, training, taking the lead with handling any issues and working within our disciplinary structure,” continued Rosensteel. “It is a hard job, especially with the number of security officers we have, and I am glad that Allied Universal hired someone with prior law enforcement experience. He has made a huge difference for our health system’s security program and I feel very fortunate to have him on our team.”
“We are now an integral part of the effort to meet the health system’s mission as we play a large customer service role and ensure the safety and security of every individual who comes through the front door,” said King. “The security team works hand-in-hand with Mr. Rosensteel and the Excela Health team to make certain we are meeting their security needs.”
“I have a high level of satisfaction with the security team,” said Rosensteel. “They have met our needs and expectations and I look forward to the future of our security program.”
