Theseus Team
When most people think of access control, they picture the familiar badge reader mounted on a wall next to a door. While that’s certainly one component, it barely scratches the surface of what true access control entails—especially in complex environments like hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Healthcare environments demand more than just knowing who opened a door. True security lies in designing for why and how that door is secured in the first place.
Watch the video shorts in the article below from Eric's Healthcare Ring of Security on-demand webinar and continue reading below to learn more...
Securing the Door, Not Just Controlling It
Yes, a reader allows someone to badge in, but what happens next? If the door has no contact sensor, it could remain open unnoticed, completely bypassing your security system. This is why a comprehensive access control solution must include door contacts, request-to-exit devices, dual readers (in/out) in some cases, and other supporting hardware. It's not just about letting people in—it's about ensuring that doors operate within strict security guidelines, and that unauthorized behavior, like propping open a door, is detected and logged.
The Challenge of Stairwells and Sensitive Areas
Stairwells are one of the more complex areas in a hospital to secure. Fire code often requires that certain stairwell doors remain unlocked every few floors to allow emergency egress—but this can also create unintended access into critical areas like emergency departments, surgical wings, or secure labs.
This is where access control must be balanced with life safety, making coordination with the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) absolutely essential. A knowledgeable consultant with healthcare experience can help navigate these regulatory nuances and design a solution that satisfies both safety and security needs.
Access Control Is Layered—and It Goes Deep
In a hospital, nearly every space has different access needs: pharmacies, labs, administrative offices, loading docks, labor and delivery, and beyond. Doors leading into and within these departments often require different levels of control. In higher-security areas, such as pharmacies or labor and delivery, dual authentication (e.g., card + PIN or card + biometrics) may be mandated by policy or regulatory standards.
Access control isn’t just for building perimeters—it reaches into the most granular parts of the facility. From refrigerator units to narcotics cabinets, the goal is to keep the wrong people out while ensuring that authorized staff have fast, reliable access to what they need.
Visitor Management: The “Other” Side of Access Control
Visitor management is often treated as a separate category, but it plays a critical role in access control. Not all access is controlled by electronics—sometimes, it’s about visibility. Hospitals that implement color-coded visitor badges (e.g., red for the Emergency Department, blue for Pediatrics) empower staff to visually verify whether someone is in the right place. A visitor wearing a red ED badge in the maternity ward becomes a potential risk—or at the very least, a sign that someone may need help finding their destination.
Combining electronic access with clear, operational visitor policies ensures that guests are both welcomed and accounted for, creating a safer, more secure environment without compromising the patient or visitor experience.
Special Considerations: Ambulances and Emergency Access
Emergency personnel are often an overlooked part of access control design. Ambulance bays must allow rapid entry, often without the delay of using key cards or punching in PINs. Modern solutions now include technology that can recognize the audio frequency signature of an approaching ambulance, granting access without manual intervention. It’s a seamless way to eliminate traffic congestion and ensure emergency responders get immediate entry.
Still, once inside, access to patient areas like the Emergency Department should remain restricted. Dual authentication at interior entry points (card + PIN or biometric) can prevent unauthorized access from these transitional zones while allowing staff to assist as needed.
Design for Purpose, Not Just Compliance
In healthcare, access control isn’t just about doors and readers—it’s about people, processes, safety, and emergency response. Whether it’s a nurse accessing a medication fridge, a visitor navigating a pediatric wing, or an EMT rushing into the ED, every layer of access should be designed intentionally.
Want to Learn More? Watch the Free On-Demand Webinar
If you're a security professional—whether in healthcare or not—Healthcare Ring of Security with Eric Moreau offers practical, real-world strategies for applying layered security principles to complex facilities. This free, on-demand webinar breaks down access control not just as a system of doors and readers, but as a human-centric strategy tailored to high-stakes environments.
Even if you don’t work in healthcare, the insights on integrating access control, balancing fire code, and managing visitor access are valuable across sectors—schools, government buildings, corporate campuses, and more.
The "Healthcare Ring of Security" webinar is available on-demand, allowing you to watch at your convenience. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the industry's leading experts and take your healthcare facility’s security to the next level. To register and access the on-demand webinar, click here >>
BONUS: DOWNLOAD OUR FREE IN-HOUSE SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS GUIDE
Security professionals are constantly looking for innovative ways to secure their facility and provide a safe environment within their budget. And, they are also constantly looking for resources to help them achieve that mission while expert advice is hard to come by.
Fortunately, we have released a considerations guide that will help security professionals perform their own in-house security risk assessment.
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What's Inside? This guide is intended to assist you with performing an in-house physical security risk assessment. In many cases, assistance from a third-party expert, like Theseus Professional Services, is required. Identification of missing or inadequate physical security measures that safeguard assets (people, property, and information) and critical business functions is of paramount importance. The findings of a security risk assessment are used to measure and communicate the level of risk to the organization.
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