End Users '20 under 40' 2017—Josh Wagner

Josh Wagner, 33

Security manager, Saint Luke's Health System

Kansas City, Mo.

Josh Wagner, as of October 2017, has been working with Saint Luke's Health System for 10 years.

Prior to joining the security industry, Wagner served in the U.S. Army. “I did some armed security and then I started with Saint Luke's Health System in security. I started as a night security officer and just worked my way up to where I am now,” he said.

“I'm responsible for the coordination and the delivery of the security program, and that includes managing and monitoring our department's service activities, performance trends, resource acquisition and retention,” Wagner said. On the technical side of security, Wagner contributes to the planning, development, acquisition and implementation of Saint Luke's Health System.

“I manage five hospital campuses where we have security teams. We do provide security support for the hospitals that don't have security teams. … We still manage their cameras for them and their alarm systems and access control,” Wagner said.

A newer security technology that Saint Luke's recently implemented is body-warn cameras. The health system started acquiring and implementing these systems about one year ago. “As far as health care security, it's pretty new and cutting edge right now—implementing those in hospitals,” Wagner said. “The greatest value we've seen is the de-escalation factor.”

Wagner added,  “The health care industry has some of the highest rates of workplace violence. … When somebody knows they're being recorded, they tend to act a bit better.”

In addition to the body-worn cameras, Wagner also said that Saint Luke's has “worked [over] the last several years to standardize all of our processes and technologies. So, we're finally now on the same camera system and same access control system and alarm systems.”