NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – New physical security measures are coming to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with plans to install metal detectors at the hospitals.

It’s a move many are relieved to hear as hospitals and clinics are among the most dangerous workplaces in America.

“Should there be extra security measures taken, in place? It wouldn’t hurt,” said Sauda Ragland, a mother to a 7-year-old.

It’s a question on the minds of many parents after police arrested a man who they said brought a handgun and 19 rounds of ammunition inside Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt last week.

“That is concerning,” said Ragland. 

It’s also a concern for parents like Elisa Hill; the children’s hospital was like a second home for her family as their daughter spent the first 10 months of her life in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

“It was a place that we felt like we could be safe,” she said. 

However, with the recent news and tragedies, like the Covenant School shooting weighing heavy on her heart, she would like more safety protocols put in place. 

“I would like to see the metal detectors in place. I would like to see more security in the different floors when you are in the clinic or going up for surgery. I do believe a metal detector would help make everyone feel safer. Yes, it may be an inconvenience while you are going through the metal detector, but I think for the community as a whole if just one child or nurse, doctor, parent anyone gets injured, I know I would look back and say I wish that those metal detectors would have been in place,” Hill explained. 

Over the summer VUMC tried various metal detector pilots. A media relations manager told News 2 they will be implementing metal detectors at key entrances in both the adult and the children’s hospital, as well as other locations “in the near future.” They are also evaluating the feasibility of a visitor management system at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to complement other entrance security technologies.