Case Study: VCU Health System achieves uninterrupted, secure communications for international cycling championships with Spok

VCU Health - Customer Case Study

VCU Health, an 865‑bed academic medical center in Richmond, VA, served as the sole healthcare provider for the 2015 UCI Road World Cycling Championships — a nine‑day international event with 1,000 cyclists from 75 countries, more than 640,000 spectators, and heavy global media coverage. The challenge was to maintain rock‑solid mobile and contact‑center communications across the hospital, clinics, and event command center despite predicted cellular congestion, road closures, and unpredictable emergency demands.

VCU Health relied on an 18‑month plan and Spok’s communications suite — including Spok Mobile secure texting, emergency notification, operator console, on‑call scheduling, and WPS‑enabled event phones — supported by a dedicated Spok team and daily command‑center updates. The result: zero messages lost, uninterrupted operations throughout the event, only one injury requiring treatment (a broken collarbone), and demonstrable improvements in call handling and communication resilience.

VCU Health System

Don Smith

Operations Manager