Hospital Maria Middelares is a vital part of the health infrastructure in Belgium’s second largest city and must remain reliably in operation and secure 24/7, 365 days a year. Its new Aperio installation ensures the hospital has a wireless access control system that can be extended whenever needed. The deployment is 100 percent wireless, maintaining building aesthetics. Staff at Hospital Maria Middelares now have a user-friendly smart card system for opening doors and accessing other secure areas, fitted with standard Mifare RFID technology.

In partnership with Nedap, around 700 doors in the first new hospital building have been fitted with wireless Aperio Offline locks connected to the Nedap access control system. Aperio Offline integration supports both the Aperio “data on card” model and the Standard Offline Access Application (SOAA), an open standard developed by Assa Abloy and other industry leaders.

“Very important for the success of this project was the seamless integration between the Nedap access control system and Aperio as well as cooperation with the local system integrator,” says Piet Van Den Bossche, Business Unit Manager Access Control at Assa Abloy Belgium.

The Hospital Maria Middelares is currently spread over two sites, in Ghent and Gentbrugge. A major infrastructure project is under way to replace these with one new complex, in Ghent, where it will play a vital role in health provision to Belgium’s second city. EGM Architects developed the project in cooperation with Belgian partner LLOX. The first building at the new facility opened in March 2014.