The Gateway Center is the main entrance for all visitors to the NIH campus. Each year, approximately 1 million people visit the campus. The Gateway Center is conveniently located off Rockville Pike at South Drive just outside of the Metro Subway Station – Medical Center and the transportation center for Metro, Montgomery, Naval Medical Center and all NIH off campus bus services.
The following message was sent to all NIH staff in the DC area via the ORS Information Line on September 25. DPSAC News is re-printing a modified version of this notification to help ensure that NIH staff and visitors are aware of these new visitor access procedures.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) strives to maintain a safe, open and collegial atmosphere throughout our owned and leased facilities. Recent events have led to the community's concern for the safety of the people working in offices and labs, often by themselves. To address this concern, the NIH has decided to modify its visitor procedures to increase safety and promote security awareness for the entire community. Reasonable steps have been taken at the Gateway Visitor Center and Commercial Vehicle Inspection Facility (CVIF) by limiting visits to the campus to only those persons having a legitimate purpose or sanctioned business reason.
Perimeter Security Access Changes
Beginning Monday, September 28, NIH security personnel are asking all daily visitors the reason for their visit, the location they intend to visit, and if applicable, who they are visiting. The intent of the change is to ensure individuals entering our facilities have a legitimate purpose and where applicable are expected by an NIH employee, contractor or affiliate. It is incumbent on the visitor and the NIH host to coordinate arrival times to ensure when security calls the NIH host is available to confirm the visit. This change does not apply to individuals in possession of an NIH-issued ID badge. The security staff will still conduct their screening activities in the same professional and respectful manner to ensure our visitors have a positive first impression of the NIH. Patient and patient visitor procedures at the West Drive entrance (7 days a week, 6AM – 10PM ) and CVIF (all other hours) will remain unchanged.
Building Access Control Changes
A second initiative has also gone into effect to enhance the safety and security of the interior of campus. The NIH has converted the following administrative buildings to a "weekend access control" schedule. Buildings 1, 2, 3, 12A, 15K, 16, 30T, 38, 45, 61, T40B and 82RA have transitioned to this new access control schedule. In order to enter from the exterior of a building, employees need to use their NIH-issued identification badge with a card reader, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the same procedure used to enter the main campus at any of our employee entrances.
Facility Access Control, part of the Office of Research Services, Division of Personnel Security and Access Control, assures employees that any known occupant with a duty station in a building should already have this access. DPSAC uses the information contained in your NED record to make the proper adjustments for access. If you have recently moved, or require access privileges to more than one building, you must contact your ICO Administrative Officer to update your NED record. If you want to confirm existing building access for your badge, contact Facility Access Control at facilityaccesscontrol@mail.nih.gov or 301-451-4766. Facility Access Control will only confirm existing privileges. They will not modify your badge without an official request from an approved Administrative Officer.
Additional details on the revised visitor procedures and building access can be found at: https://security.nih.gov/.
These new procedures apply to all NIH-owned and leased facilities to ensure the safety of our personnel.
