MarinHealth Medical Center is a 327-bed, independent medical facility serving the North Bay community. The expansion now includes opened a 260,000-square-foot, four-story cutting-edge facility focused on patient-centric care and sustainable building design called Oak Pavilion.

When the Northern California MarinHealth Medical Center embarked on a $535 million expansion, stakeholders determined a modern line of safe, secure communications was needed throughout the medical and surgical rooms, waiting rooms, intensive care units, and newborn intensive care units (NICU).

The organization installed Aiphone's IX Series intercom system as part of its security and communications plan, The facility also installed customized door stations for 30 anterooms – an area that act as containment barriers, separating patient rooms from visitor walkways.

Nick Tournis, who was IT operations consultant at MarinHealth Medical Center during this installation said Aiphone worked to identify the best solution for meeting the hospital’s needs and the IX Series encompasses all the different communication needs required by the facility, as well as providing flexibility for future expansion.

The intercom and door stations solve a number of major pain points for the hospital, especially in improving visitor and patient experience. In addition, each of the units in the new pavilion – including the emergency department, intensive care unit, maternity ward, surgical center and neonatal intensive care units – required a system allowing doctors, nurses and other staff to travel freely between patient areas and waiting areas.

The intercom stations in these areas provide video, which allows for additional monitoring in cases of suspicious activity, and the ability to make duress calls in the event of an emergency.