Garden Spot Communities in New Holland, Pennsylvania, presents a unique challenge in senior living security. This continuing care retirement community maintains an intentionally open-door philosophy, welcoming the broader community while ensuring resident safety. With 1,100 residents across 1.4 million square feet on 230 acres, the facility operates restaurants and a cafe open to the public, creating security considerations that traditional approaches could not address.
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Since 2006, their partnership with systems integrator App-Techs has evolved from a four-camera system into a sophisticated 110-camera network running on the Milestone Systems XProtect® video management software platform.
Balancing Senior Living Security with Community Access
Garden Spot faced a fundamental challenge: how to maintain security across a large, open campus without compromising its core values. The facility rejects gated community concepts, instead welcoming neighbors who walk dogs through the grounds, families who play by the creek, and professionals who visit the on-site Starbucks.
While fostering connection, this openness creates distinct security hurdles that traditional solutions couldn’t solve. To address this challenge, Garden Spot implemented a solution centering on Milestone Systems’ XProtect video management software (VMS). The facility selected this VMS for its open platform architecture, which accommodates diverse camera brands and technologies.
Over the years, integration partner App-Techs has deployed more than 100 cameras throughout the facility. Strategic wireless links extend coverage to perimeter areas up to 300 meters from main buildings. The system operates across multiple on-site Dell servers, with centralized management enabling seamless monitoring of all campus locations—including remote facilities connected via fiber-optic links—from a single interface.
Operational Efficiency and Resident Safety
The video security system serves as an integral operational tool, enabling staff to respond quickly to emergencies, verify incidents, and maintain situational awareness across the expansive campus. Most significantly, the technology provides peace of mind by helping staff quickly locate residents when needed and ensuring their safety throughout the community.
The system’s reliability and ease of use make it an essential daily resource for facility management. Furthermore, the open platform design ensures long-term scalability and cost-effective expansion.
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“Having a comprehensive video system is key to our operating such a large enterprise,” says Steve Muller, Chief Operating Officer at Garden Spot Communities. “Garden Spot’s core philosophy from the very start has been that what we don’t spend on fences and gates, we can spend on cameras. We need to have eyes on what’s happening across campus, and with a system like Milestone, we do exactly that.”
Muller notes that staff can view video from security workstations, office desktops, or mobile phones. This flexibility makes the system efficient and allows for timely responses to situations.
Practical Applications Beyond Security
The system offers benefits beyond traditional security monitoring. Garden Spot uses the technology to alleviate anxieties about perceived security issues or quickly find memory care residents who have deviated from their normal routine.
Additionally, the cameras assist with weather monitoring. During Pennsylvania’s harsh winters, managers check campus cameras remotely rather than sending crews out at 3 a.m. to assess snow conditions. This capability helps determine if plowing tasks can wait until business hours, saving labor costs and preventing unnecessary overnight work.
The Milestone XProtect system has proven to be a valuable asset for Garden Spot. It successfully balances robust security with the need for open community access, enhances operational efficiency, and provides versatile solutions that extend beyond traditional security tasks.
By addressing both safety and practical day-to-day challenges, the system plays a crucial role in supporting a welcoming and well-managed senior living environment.
View photos of Garden Spot Communities
Howard Carder is a freelance writer with more than 30 years experience in the physical security and professional audio/video industries.
Note: The views expressed by guest bloggers and contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Campus Safety.
