Our thoughts and prayers go out to the El Paso VA Health Care System—its employees, area Veterans and the community, as they deal with the aftermath of yesterday’s tragic situation. After this incident, we want our Veteran, visitors and employees to know we have been actively evaluating and improving security throughout our health care system, especially over the last year. Central Texas Veterans Health Care System has many security features in place and continuously evaluates ways to make improvements. In the fall of 2013 after a local incident, the CTVHCS leadership asked the VA Office of Law Enforcement to our facilities for a review and evaluation of our security systems. One of their recommendations was to put a perimeter security fence on the main Temple campus. The fence was recently completed, so we can now lock down the campus in case of emergencies. Another recommendation was to improve our alert system, and we are in the process of installing a new LYNX security system. LYNX will give our leadership and police the ability to send out alerts and messages to users; even if the user is not logged on. The computer screen will display an alert with instructions for any type of event. This system will also assist any hearing impaired employees, and combined with the overhead paging system, will give us extensive electronic capabilities to reach as many staff as possible. Other safety measures we have in place include: • Entrances and main areas are monitored by our Police Service through the use of video cameras at our Temple, Waco and Austin campuses. • The Waco and Austin campuses also have a perimeter security fence that can be secured in case of emergencies. • At Austin, we have one main public entrance continuously monitored by Police Service officers. • At the Temple Clinic Annex and Community Based Outpatient Clinics, access to the clinic area is behind doors that require a code or prox card for entry. • Upgraded Police radio system and video cameras. • Panic alarms on employees’ desktop in designated areas; the LYNX system will replace when installation is completed. We courage Veterans who feel they are in crisis to call the Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (Veterans, Press 1) or go to the nearest Emergency Room. The Crisis Line is also available on the web at: veteranscrisisline.net/
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 18:37:24 +0000
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