Case Study: Harbin Clinic achieves rapid network modernization and ransomware containment with Cisco Meraki

How Harbin Clinic uses Meraki switches to contain ransomware and security issues

Harbin Clinic, the largest privately owned multi‑specialty physician group in Northwest Georgia, was struggling with a flat Layer 2 network that dropped packets, lacked device visibility, and made troubleshooting and vendor support difficult. Senior IT Security and Network Administrator Ernest Staats led a major overhaul—replacing 178 traditional switches across 24 buildings and migrating to a Layer 3 design—choosing Cisco Meraki (MS switches, MX security appliances, MR access points, MV cameras and Meraki MDM) to address guest WiFi, BYOD, and security challenges.

Using Cisco Meraki, the team pre‑staged equipment and applied configuration templates to rapidly clone settings, enabling switch changes in hours rather than days, discovering and tracking over 200 previously unknown medical devices via Meraki MDM, and training new staff on the network in about 20 minutes. The Meraki dashboard and tools let them perform targeted packet captures and quickly locate and isolate threats—most notably shutting down an infected port and containing a ransomware event in under five minutes—freeing the IT team to move from firefighting to proactive security work.

Harbin Clinic

Ernest Staats

Senior IT Security and Network Administrator