Security Director Earns Designation
Albany, N.Y., September 6, 2007-John Herritage, director of security services at Albany Medical Center, has been awarded the designation of Certified Healthcare Protection Administrator (CHPA) by the International Healthcare Security and Safety Foundation (IHSSF). Herritage is one of only about 200 people worldwide to hold the designation.
The IHSSF, which was formed to advance excellence in health care security, educates and credentials security personnel. To earn the CHPA designation, the highest offered by the IHSSF and the most difficult to achieve, Herritage had to demonstrate significant expertise in areas including emergency preparedness, security and safety management, and management principals.
Herritage joined Albany Medical Center in 1995. Prior to coming to Albany Med, he had a long career in New York State law enforcement, eventually serving as the New York State Police Troop G commander, one of the highest ranking roles in the state agency. His numerous accomplishments included serving as commander of operations during the New York State Thruway bridge collapse in 1987 and organizing and implementing operations to infiltrate a drug trafficking network while assigned to the Drug Enforcement Task Force in New York City.
Herritage is responsible for all security at the Medical Center, which has nearly 7,000 employees, more than 7,000 visitors a day, and covers 2.4 million square feet of property, as well as several off-campus locations throughout the Capital District. He heads a staff of 45 and has implemented sophisticated technology including a closed circuit TV monitoring system and high-level card-reader access systems.
Albany Medical Center is northeastern New York's only academic health sciences center. It consists of Albany Medical College, Albany Medical Center Hospital and the Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc. Additional information about Albany Medical Center can be found at www.amc.edu.
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Beth Engeler
