Staff safety technology doesn't have to be complicated to be powerful. At Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, Delaware, that idea came to life during a recent Canopy launch event, where clinical staff received their Canopy Buttons, learned how to use them, and celebrated a milestone that started with a simple but important request from the frontline.
Watch the full video below to see the moment firsthand.
From Conversation to Implementation
The path to Canopy at Beebe Healthcare began in the emergency department. Staff approached David Tam, MD, MBA, CPHE, FACHE, President & CEO of Beebe Healthcare, with a clear message: they wanted to feel safer at work.
"Several months ago, the ER staff came in and asked me how to help themselves feel more secure with the work that they're doing," Dr. Tam explained. "We immediately turned to our security officers and they identified Canopy as the best in breed."
From that initial conversation to a fully installed system took just a few months, which reflects both the urgency of the need and the simplicity of the Canopy platform.
A Safety System Built For Ease of Use
Unlike technology rollouts that require extensive training sessions and lengthy onboarding, Canopy Buttons are designed to be intuitive. The event was designed to be welcoming, with staff stopping by to pick up their buttons and learn everything they needed to know quickly and easily.
That accessibility matters because adoption matters. A safety tool only works if staff feel confident using it, and feel comfortable reaching for it at the earliest sign that something feels off.
What the Canopy Button Means for Beebe Staff
For the clinical team at Beebe, the Canopy Button represents something bigger than a piece of technology. It's a signal from leadership that their safety is a priority.
"Nurses are part of the direct patient care that goes on in the hospital, and it starts down here in the ER," said Paige Murrell, a registered nurse at Beebe. "We want to come to work knowing that we're safe, that we're protected, but also that the people above us helping to make some of these decisions have our back and are supporting us. Because happy nurses equal happy patients."
That sentiment is at the heart of why Beebe's leadership invested in Canopy. As Kathy Tregear, Chief Nursing Officer at Beebe Healthcare, put it: "A safe environment in which to care for patients is paramount for all of us. If our teams don't feel safe taking care of our patients, our patients aren't going to get the care that they need."
Getting Ahead of Incidents Before They Escalate
For Beebe's safety leadership, the Canopy Button is about more than responding to incidents. It's about preventing them.
"I really do believe that this is going to be a game changer for healthcare security," said R.L. Hughes, Director of Safety at Beebe Healthcare. "We want to get in, help de-escalate the situation before it becomes physical, before it becomes a threat."
That proactive approach is exactly what Canopy is designed to support. When a staff member senses a situation beginning to escalate, they can discreetly activate their button before anything has happened, alerting security and nearby colleagues who can respond quickly and calmly. The goal is never to wait until a crisis is underway. It's to intervene at the earliest possible moment, when de-escalation is still possible, and everyone involved is safer for it.
Read More About Canopy at Beebe Healthcare
Read the full story about the rollout of Canopy at this not-for-profit health system.
