WA health system installs wireless network for PACS, telephony

Franciscan Health System, based in Tacoma, WA, has completed the deployment of multiple gigabit wireless access points for secure data, voice and PACS transmission between its business office and its flagship St. Joseph Medical Center, and plans to extend the system to all five hospitals and other care sites, TMCnet reports. The new network replaces an unreliable wireless system that had just one-tenth the bandwidth.

Franciscan turned to Santa Clara, CA-based BridgeWave Communications for the technology, a series of unlicensed radios transmitting on a 60-gigahertz frequency. The system can downshift to a rate of 100 megabits per second during thunderstorms to keep the network running and guard against electrical interference. When the full system of access points is in place, Franciscan expects to save $500,000 over a five-year period from reduced maintenance costs.

To learn more about this large-scale wireless project:
- read the TMCnet story