Penn State Health Children’s Hospital staff work hard to make the hospital a safe and comfortable place. Security personnel are available 24/7 and provides protection for the well-being of all patients, visitors and employees.

Parent and visitor identification

To visit patients at the Children’s Hospital, you must check in at the Children’s Hospital or Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center information desks and show photo identification. We give parents an identification bracelet to wear for the length of their child’s stay and require visitors to wear a stick-on badge that identifies them as an authorized visitor.

Color-coded Wristbands

To provide consistency across health care facilities, we use a series of standardized color-coded wristbands to identify a patient’s medical status or condition.

We’ll ask your child to remove any charity or colored bracelets while being treated at the Children’s Hospital so they are not confused with the color-coded safety wristbands.

These bands are in addition to our facility’s identification, blood bank and security wristbands. For your safety, please do not remove any bands applied by our staff.

Evening access

The Children’s Hospital entrance locks after 6 p.m., at which time all visitors must check in at the main hospital entrance.

Locked units

We lock all patient units at the Children’s Hospital and require authorization to gain access. We have an attendee stationed at the information desk around the clock to give authorized guests access to the patient units.

If you want to visit patients outside of the regular visiting hours, it’s best to first check with the patient’s family to ensure that you’ll be able to visit. Patient families should discuss authorized visitors with their nursing staff.

Alarm system and other security measures

Extra security measures throughout the hospital include:

• Newborn babies wear a special security band that trips an alarm when they are moved beyond the Women’s Health or Labor and Delivery area.
• Emergency call boxes are located all over campus and allow you to contact the security office immediately.
• More than 400 cameras provide recorded 24/7 video monitoring of the entire campus.

Report an incident or request a security guard

We have security officers at the Children’s Hospital every hour of the day to protect the well-being and property of all patients, visitors, and employees.

The security command post is located at the main entrance of the emergency department.

Please report any suspicious activity, crimes, or unusual events to the security department at 717-531-8711.

Prohibited items

These items or activities are not allowed on the campus of Milton S. Hershey Medical Center:

• Guns (not allowed even with a concealed carry permit) or other weapons
• Smoking or use of other tobacco products
• Vaping
• Illegal drugs
• Harmful chemicals