Geisinger plans to ramp up security measures, starting later this month, by implementing metal detectors at the entrances to each of its hospitals.<\/p>\n
As part of an ongoing investment in patient and employee safety, the screening procedures will be rolled out in phases throughout the year, starting with Geisinger Medical Center in Danville on March 30, officials said.<\/p>\n
The implementation of the entrance screenings at additional facilities, such as Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. and Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, will be announced at later dates. Patients should allow extra time for screenings before appointments, officials noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hospitals are places of healing,\u201d said Sean McGinley, associate vice president of police and security operations for Geisinger. \u201cSecurity is a top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGinley stressed more hospitals across the state and country have been expanding security measures with screening equipment to protect patients and employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor health systems, particularly of our size in Pennsylvania and nationally, it\u2019s more of the norm than the exception now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Once the detectors are implemented, every visitor, patient and staff member using a public entrance, including labor and delivery, will be screened, Geisinger officials said.<\/p>\n
Weapons of any kind, including firearms and knives, are prohibited from all Geisinger facilities. Any weapon discovered through the screenings must be returned to the individual\u2019s vehicle, officials said.<\/p>\n
The screenings will be similar to those at airports or courthouses, using metal detectors, officials said. If the detector is activated, the security officer will conduct a scan with a hand-held detector.<\/p>\n
Geisinger has used metal detectors at all emergency room entrances since 2021, preventing thousands of weapons and other dangerous items from entering its facilities, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the benefits of these screenings,\u201d McGinley said. \u201cViolent events in healthcare are a growing concern everywhere. This is a natural evolution of our robust security measures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previous security measures introduced by Geisinger include adding a private police team in 2025, specialized staff training, a K-9 program and installation of hundreds of security cameras \u2014 many using AI to automatically alert security to real-time dangers, officials said.<\/p>\n
McGinley believes the private police officer program has been a success since its rollout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think its been well received by both our employees and by our patients,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have about 20 sworn officers now, and we\u2019re always looking at expanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
While other Geisinger facilities \u2014 like its ConvenientCare walk-in clinics \u2014 won\u2019t be adding any additional security measures at this time, McGinley noted that could change.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, we\u2019re focused on our hospitals,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to monitor the program and then we\u2019ll reevaluate any expansion beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annmarie Poslock, vice president of marketing and communications for Commonwealth Heath, stated the hospital campuses in Scranton take a proactive approach to safety and security.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur measures include reduced entry points, screening of all visitors and patients with handheld metal detectors, and ongoing monitoring by trained security personnel,\u201d she said. \u201cThese steps, combined with staff preparedness and rapid response protocols, ensure a safe, secure, and welcoming environment for everyone who comes through our doors. We continue to monitor and adjust our security measures as situations arise to maintain the highest level of safety at all our locations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geisinger plans to ramp up security measures, starting later this month, by implementing metal detectors at the entrances…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[28,97,252,253,28421,983,68247,3234,28420],"class_list":["post-533137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-business","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}