A case for two

The Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, UKSH in short, is one of the largest and most modern hospitals in Europe. With its two locations in Kiel and Lübeck, it provides medical care at the "highest" level in the northern German state. The electronic locking system from Uhlmann & Zacher provide reliable access control at both locations.

A university hospital plays a very special role in the healthcare system: it combines health care with research and teaching. Therefore, these hospitals are often leaders in treating particularly complex, severe and rare diseases and contribute significantly to patient care and nursing as well as to medical training.

UKSH is one of the largest construction projects in Schleswig-Holstein in recent decades. Together, both locations cover an area of almost 100 hectares. The concept includes two hospital locations, each with a central hospital. First, the central hospital was equipped with an electronic locking system and then the entire campus, considering the respective buildings and access management requirements.

Largest employer in Schleswig-Holstein
The University Hospital ensures the best possible medical care in the region and, with more than 15,000 employees, is the largest employer and one of the largest training facility in the state. In recent years, the buildings have been extensively expanded. In mid-2019, the first patients were treated in the new buildings at the Kiel location, followed by the Lübeck location at the end of the same year. The UKSH totally has around 2,500 beds. This means that about 100,000 patients can be treated as inpatients every year, and, in addition, about 3 times as many patients can be treated as outpatients.

The Clex prime system from Uhlmann & Zacher is ideally suited for a project of this size. In two expansion stages, it is possible to set up electronic locking systems with up to 25,000 or optionally up to 60,000 keys. Accordingly, up to 60,000 electronic locking units can be used in the locking system. In addition to the 296 possible locking groups, up to 5,000 extra groups can optionally be used in the Clex prime system.

5,000 doors

In the UKSH building complex, 5,000 doors were fitted with electronic locking units. The majority of these, about 2,800 doors, were provided with the modern electronic door handles and door fittings from Uhlmann & Zacher. The range of electronic door handles includes many different design options. These include, for example, different handle variants and the choice of different versions of plate and rosette fittings. A variant for installation in locks for full-glass doors is also available. The two U-shaped handles are particularly important for hospitals, to ensure that neither the hospital staff nor patients snag their sleeves on the handles even in stressful situations. The variant of the electronic door fitting, which can also be installed in fire and smoke resistant doors or in emergency exit doors, is also important for hospitals. The planners of the UKSH were impressed precisely by this enormous flexibility of the product range and it was installed in many different variants.

Electronic locking cylinders were installed in more than 1,000 doors. The classic products of the electronic locking units come with impressive modern design and are easy to operate. Thanks to their robust stainless steel housing, the electronic locking units are able to cope with the challenges of everyday hospital life and thus guarantee reliable operation. As with the door handles, the locking cylinders do not need any wiring either. In this way, mechanical cylinders can be replaced quickly and easily by electronic cylinders. In addition, the outdoor variant for use in unprotected areas was installed in the UKSH building. The outdoor version which is certified according to protection class IP66 guarantees reliable operation, even if it is exposed to extreme heat, cold and rain.

(Virtual) wall-mounted reader

300 wall-mounted readers were also installed. Another 10 wall-mounted readers are so-called virtual wall-mounted readers, which can be used with a remote module or with a separate relay. In addition, there are about 70 online programming terminals that are used in the building complex. 40 electronic cabinet locks were also installed. These can be used, for example, to integrate medicine cabinets or filing cabinets with sensitive patient data into the electronic locking system.

The technology MIFARE^® DESFire^® EV2 was selected for the keys. And for good reason: this is one of the most reliable and secure transponder processes in the world and, with the encrypted file system, is the leading technology in the field of electronic access management.

Not just keys

A total of around 15,000 transponders in the form of employee ID cards have been issued so far. These perform several functions at once: On the one hand, they naturally serve as keys for opening and closing the electronic locking units. On the other hand, they are used by the employees to enter the car park and also to login at the computers and pay in the canteen. The system used by Uhlmann & Zacher can also be linked to other systems, so that the transponder becomes an all-rounder in everyday hospital life. In addition, the authorizations on the service cards provide preferential access to lifts and also provide access to special levels only with the help of the authorized ID card.

Up to date via app

The trend-setting advancement of the hospital is also evident, for example, from the fact that concerned staff have their own smartphone app. This allows users to find out about the latest news, manage their doctor's appointments and use the app to guide them to the appointment location on the extensive premises.

In addition, patients can log in independently at so-called self-check-in terminals and scan important documents. The hospital is also the first in Germany to offer an electronic health account that enables the exchange of important data between doctors, hospitals and therapists regardless of the health insurance. In the hospital rooms, patients can also access TV, Internet, films and e-papers digitally via a tablet PC.

As a competent partner, stockhausen consulting GmbH, based in Berlin, supervised the project and, in addition to the electronic locking system, also ensured smooth processing in other areas of the technically challenging project.

After successfully implementing and supporting the project, it is already clear that the cooperation with Uhlmann & Zacher and stockhausen consulting will continue for other building extensions.

GIT SICHERHEIT, Issue 03/2022

Photo: UKSH