Newbridge Wireless designed and implemented a campus-wide neutral host distributed antenna system (DAS) for Winchester Medical Center (WMC), a 12-building, 1.6 million-square-foot healthcare campus in Virginia. Under its agreement with Valley Health, Newbridge develops, owns, operates, and actively manages the infrastructure that supports in-building cellular service. This case study looks at the medical center’s needs, Newbridge’s work, and how the managed system provides a foundation for later 4G and 5G upgrades.
WMC’s Cellular Infrastructure Needs
Winchester Medical Center is part of the Valley Health system and serves communities across the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding region in Virginia. Its campus includes the main hospital, two medical office buildings, a cancer center, and other facilities across 12 buildings.
A campus of this size and complexity cannot depend solely on outdoor cellular signals reaching every indoor area. Dense building materials, multiple structures, interior rooms, below-grade spaces, and evolving carrier technologies can all affect signal performance. Winchester Medical Center needed a coordinated approach to cellular infrastructure across the campus.
Project Goal
WMC partnered with Newbridge Wireless to establish dependable, scalable cellular infrastructure that could support service from major wireless service providers across the property. The approach also needed to reduce the burden on the healthcare organization to own, operate, and continually modernize specialized in-building wireless infrastructure.
Wireless Infrastructure Work Completed
Campus-Wide Neutral Host DAS
Newbridge Wireless deployed a campus-wide neutral host DAS under a strategic agreement with Valley Health. Newbridge develops, owns, and operates the shared infrastructure that enables cellular services from major wireless carriers on the campus. The neutral host model allows WMC to serve patients, visitors, clinicians, staff, and other campus users who arrive with different devices and carriers.
DAS-as-a-Service and Active Management
Newbridge’s role did not end when the system went on air. Through its DAS-as-a-Service (DASaaS) model, Newbridge continues to actively manage the infrastructure, with expert technicians returning to the site as needed. This model gives Valley Health a long-term wireless infrastructure partner that can address system needs, coordinate with carriers, and help keep the DAS aligned with changes in the campus and in cellular technology.
Support for 4G and 5G Upgrades
The value of that ongoing DASaaS operating relationship became clear when Newbridge’s engineering team worked with AT&T to upgrade the Winchester medical center campus DAS for 4G and 5G cellular services. The upgrade built on the existing neutral host infrastructure instead of requiring a separate system.
Benefits and Future Impact
Working with Newbridge Wireless allowed Winchester Medical Center to provide a better experience for patients, visitors, and employees:
- The neutral host DAS system allows the healthcare campus to provide a consistent connectivity experience without building separate infrastructure for each carrier.
- Since Newbridge owns and operates the DAS, this managed-service model reduces the technical and operational burden on the WMC’s internal IT teams.
- Improving in-building cellular signals can improve patient care in an era when wireless medical devices are used more frequently.
- The healthcare organization now has established infrastructure and an operating partner positioned to support future modernization needs.
Why Healthcare Campuses Need Wireless Support
Reliable cellular service is an ongoing operational need in healthcare environments. Clinicians, staff, patients, visitors, vendors, and emergency-response partners all rely on mobile connectivity as they move among patient care areas, offices, treatment centers, and common spaces. Inconsistent coverage can create communication problems and a less connected campus experience.
For healthcare leaders, the Winchester Medical Center project shows why indoor cellular coverage should be planned as infrastructure that must be managed over time, not only as a one-time installation. A DAS-as-a-Service engagement with Newbridge Wireless combines a neutral host DAS foundation with ongoing ownership, management, carrier coordination, and a path for future upgrades.
Plan Cellular Coverage for Your Healthcare Organization
Whether a hospital or medical campus is addressing coverage gaps, building a new facility, or preparing existing infrastructure for future carrier needs, Newbridge Wireless can evaluate in-building cellular signal needs and customize a strategy. The right approach starts with the property, the people who depend on connectivity, and a plan for managing the infrastructure after it goes live.
Ready to improve campus connectivity? Talk with Newbridge Wireless about a healthcare coverage assessment and a managed DAS strategy built for your campus.