Case Study: El Camino Hospital achieves medical-grade ubiquitous wireless and smart hospital automation with Black Box Network Services

Silicon Valley’s new El Camino Hospital aggregates technologies through ubiquitous wireless to transform patient care capabilities

El Camino Hospital set out to build a “smart hospital” that aggregates many technologies into a single, automated network to improve patient care, security and workflow. The challenge was ubiquitous, medical‑grade wireless coverage and precise location tracking throughout the new Mountain View facility — including patient rooms, bathrooms, ORs and common areas — to support thousands of mobile and medical devices and enable systems like RFID, telemetry and mobile robotics. To meet this need, El Camino engaged Black Box Network Services and its distributed antenna system (DAS) and RF engineering services.

Black Box Network Services implemented a thoroughly RF‑engineered DAS and high‑penetration wireless fabric delivering medical‑grade support for Cisco Wi‑Fi, Philips WMTS, AT&T cellular and 2‑way radios, with RFID location accuracy within roughly a square meter. The deployment supports several thousand devices and 167 wireless robotic medication‑administration units, ties building systems into a single automated network, and enables integrated communications (e.g., Vocera) and bedside computing so nurses spend more time with patients. The Black Box solution produced measurable gains in coverage, device support and operational efficiency that helped El Camino earn repeated “Most Wired” recognition.

El Camino Hospital

Greg Walton

CIO