About Healthcare System

A large, non-profit health system in the Pacific Northwest serves both urban and rural communities across multiple states—focused on high-quality, compassionate care, community access and long-term stewardship of resources. With a network of hospitals and medical campuses that support acute care, emergency services, outpatient clinics and administrative functions, they rely heavily on mobile connectivity.

• Industry: Healthcare
• Location: Pacific Northwest
• Sites on air: 3
• Area: 1,683,812 square feet
• Property type: Existing
• Solution: Distributed Antenna System (DAS) Managed Service

The Challenge

Across several hospital campuses, cellular coverage had become inconsistent. Certain areas experienced dropped calls, slow data speeds or complete dead zones—particularly in dense clinical spaces, operating rooms and complex building layouts spanning everything from single-floor wings to nine-story towers. Their coverage requirements spanned multiple buildings and floors—from one floor to nine floor buildings.

Compounding the challenge, the main hospital was undergoing ongoing renovations and expansions. Maintaining reliable service during construction required a partner capable of carefully removing, relocating and reinstalling critical network equipment—without disrupting care delivery or daily operations.

Providers—including cardiologists and surgeons—depend on their personal mobile devices to receive time-sensitive, life-saving messages. In areas without cellular coverage, and with no quality-of-service guarantees over Wi-Fi, missed calls and delayed pages became a real operational and clinical risk.

The health system needed a solution that could scale across buildings and renovations, support all major Wireless Carriers, and deliver consistent, reliable connectivity—without adding burden to already stretched IT and facilities teams. Any approach also had to align with long-term digital transformation goals while operating seamlessly within an active healthcare environment.

The Solution

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all design, TDC took a site-specific approach to improving cellular connectivity across three hospital locations.

Each campus presented different needs based on building age, layout, clinical density and usage patterns. The solution was designed and deployed to reflect these differences—ensuring the right level of coverage, capacity and performance for each individual site.

A neutral-host Distributed Antenna System (DAS) was implemented across the three locations in partnership with AT&T. The designs were tailored to each environment while still operating on a shared, multi-carrier infrastructure. This approach delivered consistent indoor coverage where it mattered most, without overbuilding or adding unnecessary complexity.

The deployments were executed with minimal disruption to active healthcare settings and delivered as a fully managed solution, allowing internal IT and facilities teams to remain focused on patient care, safety and core systems.

The Impact

The deployment delivered meaningful improvements across the organization:

• Reliable connectivity throughout clinical, administrative and public areas
• Improved communications and mobility for clinicians and staff
• Immediate, visible improvement in day-to-day operations, recognized by clinical leadership as soon as the system went live 
• A better experience for patients and visitors, with fewer connectivity-related complaints
• Stronger support for emergencies and public safety communications
• Reduced operational burden through a managed, neutral-host model
• A modern, modular solution that can support future digital health initiatives