Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities
- Mobilizing Healthcare Professionals for Smokefree Air
- 100% Smokefree Hospitals and Nursing Homes
- Smoking Policies in U.S. Outpatient Drug Treatment Facilities
- University of Michigan Tobacco Consultation Services
- Focus on Hospitals: Going Smokefree
- Smokefree Hospitals Tool Kit from Maryland Hospital Association
- Mental Health and Smoke-Free Environments
There is a rapidly growing list of 100% Smokefree Hospitals, Medical Facilities, and Nursing Homes. For healthcare facilities interested in adopting a 100% smokefree policy, the Mayo Clinic has good sample policy language.
NC Prevention Partners has an excellent program to help hospitals adopt campus-wide policies. Every acute care hospital campus in North Carolina is now smokefree. Check out their website for sample timelines, policies, materials, and more.
For assistance on making your healthcare facility 100% smokefree, contact ANR. ANR can help you with lessons learned and put you in contact with other experts and resources.
Healthcare professionals are an important component of every smokefree air campaign. Doctors, dentists, nurses, dental hygienists, and healthcare students not only have a shared interest in promoting and protecting public health, but many are also are well-known and well-respected within their communities.
In fact, the World Health Organization dedicated World No Tobacco Day 2005 to the essential role healthcare professionals and facilities play in creating environments safe from secondhand smoke exposure and tobacco use.
Click here to learn about effective and creative ways to approach your healthcare provider about getting involved in your smokefree air campaign.
Adopt a Smokefree Healthcare Facility Policy!
More and more healthcare facilities are adopting voluntary 100% smokefree campus policies, reinforcing their steadfast mission to promoting and protecting health. Not only do smokefree policies further promote a healthcare facility's health mission, but smokefree healthcare facilities:
- Aid in community, employee, and patient cessation efforts;
- Lower maintenance costs; and
- Increase worker productivity.
The Joint Commission, the world's largest healthcare standards setting and accrediting body, and researchers from the Henry Ford Health System's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, completed a survey regarding hospitals' smokefree campus policies and concluded that by February 2008, 45 percent of US hospitals had adopted "smoke-free campus" policies. In addition, "...another 15 percent indicated that they would be implementing similar policies in the near future. Hence, it is safe to assume on the basis of these results that the majority of US hospitals will have smoke-free campuses by the end of 2009."
North Carolina Prevention Partners has a great online toolkit to help hospitals plan and implement tobacco-free policies. The fact that every NC acute care hospital now has a property-wide tobacco-free policy speaks to this program's effectiveness.
Start today! The University of Arkansas Medical School's Smokefree Hospital Tool Kit offers sample language, timeline, implementation, and cessation plans.
ANR awarded Dr. Robert Shepard (pictured here with smokefree advocates from Montana, his home state) and Dr. Richard Sargent with its "Advocate of the Year Award" at the 2003 National Conference on Tobacco or Health. Both doctors demonstrated outstanding dedication to smokefree air through research and advocacy.
ANR is frequently contacted by individuals who wonder why their physicians have not asked them whether they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Nymox's NicAlert, a clinical screening tool that measures for nicotine and tobacco exposure, is a way for doctors to screen all patients for exposure to secondhand smoke, since even a little exposure can be very dangerous.
Weeks after its annual meeting in 2004, the British Medical Association began collecting personal letters from doctors that document the effects of secondhand smoke on their patients. As of June 2005, over 4500 letters have been collected, all issuing the same prescription for secondhand smoke exposure: smokefree environments. BMA plans to send these letters, along with its own, to the Prime Minister, demanding that all public places be 100% smokefree.
| Smokefree News |
| Delray Medical Center bans smoking on grounds Delray Medical Center is enacting a permanent smoke break on its campus. With the move, the hospital joins Boca Raton Community Hospital as a smoke-free medical center. Effective immediately, no one is allowed to smoke on the Delray Medical Center grounds, 5352 Linton Blvd. The hospital said it's helping smokers quit and protecting others from secondhand smoke. Delray Medical Center officials are offering employees a free smoking-cessation course as well as online and telephone coaching. ... Five hospitals to become tobacco-free workplaces in Jan. 2011 Surgical technician Carole Smith, 45, has smoked for 20 years. When she started working at East Tennessee Children's Hospital three months ago, she already wanted to quit the cigarettes. But a new policy leaves her no choice - at least, during the workday. On Wednesday morning, Children's Hospital and all other Knoxville-area hospital systems - Covenant Health, Mercy Health Partners, University of Tennessee Medical Center and Maryville's Blount Memorial Hospital - united to announce that their facilities will be "smoke-free workplaces" by Jan. 1, 2011. Right now, that means only that employees won't be allowed to use tobacco products at the hospitals or their affiliates. Patients and visitors will still have the right to smoke in designated smoking areas. But administrators acknowledge the employee policy, which all could agree on, is "the first step" toward completely "smoke-free" campuses; individual hospitals will choose their own timetables to take the initiative further. ... Boca Raton Community Hospital to ban smoking Hospital's no-smoke plan wins Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has become the first hospital in North Carolina to achieve statewide "gold star" status for its tobacco-cessation programs. The rating comes from N.C. Prevention Partners, the advocacy group that successfully lobbied for every acute-care hospital in the state to become 100 percent tobacco free -- the first state to achieve the milestone. However, a trip yesterday around the main campus of Wake Forest Baptist showed that it's unlikely that the policy -- put in place in July 2007 -- will gain 100 percent compliance from employees, visitors and patients. ... Norwalk Hospital gets the gold ...Norwalk Hospital was commended for having a smoke-free campus and for supporting and promoting the "Nor-walker's Program" from the Norwalk Healthy Lifestyles Cardiovascular Project with mapped out walking routes in the City of Norwalk to encourage people to incorporate exercise in their daily lives. ... Implementing a Smoke-free Medical Campus: Impact on Inpatient and Employee Outcomes State Adoption of 100% Smoke-free Acute Non Federal Hospital Campus Policies Missouri hospitals lead the way on smoking bans Most hospitals in the country will have smoking bans on their campuses by next year, but St. Louis hospitals already breathe easy. National regulations for hospitals have banned smoking inside medical buildings since 1992. About five years ago, hospitals started adopting smoke-free policies for their entire campuses, including parking lots, private vehicles and outdoor common areas. Missouri, which has one of the nation's highest smoking rates at 24 percent, was at the forefront of making hospitals entirely smoke-free. ... Bristol Hospital wants city to declare Newell Road smoke free BRISTOL — Bristol Hospital recently made a formal request to have a city road that runs through its grounds declared a no-smoking zone. Hospital President Kurt Barwis asked the city to have Newell Road — the primary entrance for its emergency room, medical office building and Connecticut Spine and Pain Center — designated as smoke-free under a new law Bristol passed last summer. Barwis said that having the street made into a no-smoking zone would be "the last step in allowing us to change over the entire hospital campus as smoke-free," a move it began in 2008. City officials said they plan to ask the Hearings and Assessment Committee to look into the request and make a recommendation to the City Council. Little opposition is expected. The city’s new ordinance, which hasn’t been used yet, allows it to designate public streets and sidewalks as no-smoking zones, except where state law dictates otherwise. ... Syracuse hospital exteriors appear smoke free during the first hours of ban Syracuse, NY -- It appears as if Onondaga County’s ban on smoking within 100 feet of hospital property is working at Crouse and Upstate University hospitals, which implemented it this morning. There are bright yellow signs announcing the ordinance on the sides of the buildings and on fences. While cigarette butts line the sidewalks of those hospitals like the aftermath of long-gone parties, there were no smokers to be found near the hospitals this morning. ... Marion hospitals begin ban of tobacco on campuses The idea of lighting up in the parking lot of Marion County's two largest hospitals got snuffed out when Munroe Regional Medical Center and Ocala Health became tobacco-free campuses today. The two hospitals, which chose today's Great American Smokeout to launch the ban, are now part of a consortium of more than 70 smoke-free Florida hospitals. Both hospitals had tried for years to make the change, but a gentle push from a local doctor and management brought the project to fruition. Dr. Dante Raju, who still remembers when doctors smoked inside hospitals, said he brought the issue to the fore. "I've been a staunch supporter of a smoke-free work environment," he said. ... Westfield Memorial Hospital becomes a tobacco-free campus In conjunction with The Great American Smoke Out, an annual event aimed at helping people quit smoking, Westfield Memorial Hospital will become a tobacco-free campus today. According to a press release from the hospital, the new policy will prohibit the use of any type of tobacco product such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco anywhere on the hospital's grounds, and the policy will affect all employees, physicians, visitors, patients, volunteers, vendors and other medical staff. "As a healthcare provider, we were going to do it for a year, but we had so many changes with the Berger Commission that we didn't want to do it until now," said Tina Newell, a community educator at Westfield Memorial Hospital. Ms. Newell said hospital employees and others will now be required to leave the hospital's premises if they wish to smoke, adding a few employees have already quit smoking due to the policy taking effect. ... No sanctuaries left for smokers at two Marin hospitals Two Marin hospitals have chosen Thursday, the date of the 34th Great American Smokeout, as the day to initiate a total ban on smoking on their campuses. To demonstrate that it means business, Novato Community Hospital on Wednesday removed its last refuge for employees and hospital visitors who smoked, a three-sided structure affectionately known as the "smoking shack." ... Local hospitals ban smoking campuswide RICHMOND, Va. -- Employees, patients and visitors smoked their last cigarettes at Henrico Doctors' and Bon Secours Richmond hospitals yesterday. Using today's Great American Smokeout campaign as a kickoff point, the hospitals are becoming tobacco-free campuses inside and out. HCA Inc.-owned Henrico Doctors' campuses going smoke-free today include Retreat, Forest and Parham. HCA's Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals went tobacco-free in 2008. John Randolph will go smoke-free later. The Bon Secours Richmond's hospitals banning all tobacco products inside and out are Memorial Regional, Richmond Community, St. Francis and St. Mary's. The bans cover even parking garages on hospital properties, but some leased spaces at St. Mary's may be excluded. ... Clara Maass Medical Center to Become a Smoke-Free Campus Celebrating the Great ... To mark this year’s 33rd anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, Clara Maass Medical Center (CMMC) and all other northern hospitals, health facilities and offices of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System will become smoke-free campus wide on November 19, 2009. The Great American Smokeout is a program created by the American Cancer Society to encourage Americans to quit smoking for this one day in hope that they will realize that if they can quit for one day, they can quit forever. The Great American Smokeout will be the culmination of CMMC’s year-long efforts to provide smoking cessation resources for its employees and patients. These include initiatives such as quit programs, giveaways and providing a constant stream of information. The other northern campuses that will become smoke-free include Livingston Services, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center, Saint Barnabas Corporate Center, Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Saint Barnabas Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers, Saint Barnabas Outpatient Centers and all Saint Barnabas Health Care System facilities and property in northern New Jersey. ... Florida Hospital deland to go tobacco-free Florida Hospital DeLand’s new tobacco-free policy will go into effect Nov. 19, prohibiting any use of tobacco products by employees, physicians, visitors, patients, volunteers, vendors and medical staff anywhere on the hospital campus or property. This prohibition will apply to smoking in personal vehicles on the property as well as on any sidewalks or streets within the boundaries of the campus. ... Smoke-free zone encircles hospital Bronson Frick, a spokesman for Americans for Non-Smokers Rights in California, said Friday that more than 1,000 communities nationwide have enacted some type of ban on smoking in various public places, which can include parks, restaurant patios, transit facility stops, certain areas of commercial districts and doorways to certain buildings and other places. He said the issue is a local one, and communities that adopt such bans often do so when a particular problem is identified, He said perceived problems tend to be in areas where people congregate. It is a growing trend, he said. ... Hospital grounds go tobacco free Nov. 19 Frankfort Regional Medical Center is going tobacco free - outdoors and in. In conjunction with the American Cancer Society's 34th Great American Smokeout Challenge on Nov. 19, the local medical center is creating a tobacco free environment. Administrators and medical staff believe the move is vital to promoting the health of patients, visitors, employees, volunteers, medical staff and others, according to a news release. Tobacco use of any kind will not be permitted: Arbitrator rules acmh's smoking ban unreasonable EAST FRANKLIN -- Employees of one union at ACMH Hospital have won the right to smoke in a designated area, after an arbitrator ruled against a hospital policy this week. The union representing the nonprofessional employees at the hospital had challenged a ban that was initiated Jan. 1 that prohibits smoking by anyone anywhere on hospital property, in an unfair labor practices complaint. The arbitrator in the complaint decided the hospital's policy is unreasonable because it fails to make reasonable accommodation for employees to smoke in a designated area -- a past practice of the hospital, it was ruled as well. Hospital officials were directed to meet with union representatives to provide for a designated smoking area. They met Wednesday to discuss the location. A spokesperson said Wednesday prior to the meeting that the hospital is disappointed in the decision. "We strongly believe it (a tobacco-free policy) was the right thing to do," said hospital spokesperson Anne Remaley. "We disagree with the arbitrator who didn't see we were trying to follow our mission statement of being a leader in promoting healthy responsible behavior in our community." ... ECM to allow smokers to use park ECM Administrator Jody Pigg said the decision was made out of consideration for the hospital’s neighbors. “Hospital leadership and the board of directors of ECM Hospital have agreed to allow families of extended stay critical patients, as well as families with patients in our emergency department the use of the park across from the Alabama Street entrance to smoke,” Pigg said in an e-mail.” While the park is ECM property, Pigg said it is not physically connected to any other hospital property and allows ECM to remain in compliance with the city’s new smoking ordinance. ... Smokers Sound Off On Tobacco Ban At Andrews Hospital ANDREWS - Another West Texas hospital is putting the brakes on tobacco. They're banning all smoking and dipping anywhere on the property. The Permian Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Andrews is the next to go Tobacco Free. They said it's part of a state and nationwide trend. However, some smokers said the trend is forcing them to kick the habit. "It's everywhere. It's not just the hospitals. It's everywhere," Katherine Morgan, an Andrews Hospital employee and smoker, said. "There's a lot of people that don't even want to come around you if they see you with a cigarette." ... 3 local hospitals unite on going tobacco-free Three local hospitals announ-ced yesterday the facilities will go tobacco-free the first of next year. Williamson ARH (Appalachian Regional Healthcare) Hospital, Williamson Memorial Hospital and Logan Regional Medical Center will join other local healthcare facilities Jan. 1, 2010 in prohibiting tobacco use of any kind inside or outside hospital property. The health-oriented move will include the elimination of designated areas outside the three hospitals where employees, patients and visitors are currently permitted to use tobacco products, hospital officials reported. ... Calhoun Health Services Going Tobacco-Free Calhoun Health Services will become a tobacco-free campus in 2010. The hospital board voted last week to ban all tobacco products from hospital property effective Jan. 1, 2010. “We’ve never allowed smoking inside the building, so all we’re doing is extending it to the grounds,” said James Franklin, hospital administrator. A press release from the hospital stated that as a “healthcare organization dedicated to the promotion of health and wellness,” no person, including employees, medical staff, volunteers, students, vendors, visitors or patients will be permitted to use tobacco products on hospital grounds. The restriction on em-ployees will prohibit the use of tobacco products during paid work hours, meaning they may not use tobacco during breaks or in their vehicles if on company time. Franklin said the hospital will provide employees with education classes and necessary medications to help them quit smoking. He said the January effective date was approved to provide employees and others time to adjust to the new policy. The new policy is in line with a push by BlueCross BlueShield of Mississippi to get all Mississippi hospitals tobacco-free. ... Helena hospital goes smokefree HELENA - St. Peter's Hospital in Helena has joined other hospitals in the state in banning tobacco use. The ban went into effect Tuesday. New law would clear the air outside hospitals SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Patients may no longer have to pass through a gantlet of second-hand smoke to enter local hospitals if the Onondaga County executive signs a law approved Tuesday by the Legislature. The Legislature voted 15-3 to pass a local law authorizing local hospitals to ban smoking within 100 feet of their properties. Violators could be fined up to $50. County Executive Joanie Mahoney is inclined to sign the law, but will reserve judgment until she holds a public hearing, said Ben Dublin, director of intergovernmental relations. The hearing has not yet been scheduled. Before the vote, doctors, hospital officials and patients pleaded with legislators to pass the law, proposed by Thomas Buckel, D-Syracuse. ... Hospitals’ smoking areas to disappear BRADENTON -- Health experts will tell you that smoking can earn you a trip to the hospital. But as of Tuesday, Manatee County's three hospitals will make sure you don't light up anywhere near their buildings. Manatee Memorial Hospital, Blake Medical Center and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center will go tobacco-free Tuesday, following the 2007 lead of hospitals and health departments in Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. "It's been an ongoing process for the last two years," said Vernon DeSear, Manatee Memorial's vice president of marketing and business development. "The other (counties') hospitals did it back in 2007, and we've been catching up." Smoking has long been banned inside hospital buildings, but it was permitted outside. Manatee Memorial had two designated smoking areas outside its complex, DeSear said. Now, smoking and the use of any tobacco product will be prohibited everywhere on the hospital properties. ... Monongalia County Healthcare Provides go Tobacco-Free MORGANTOWN -- Three major health care providers in Monongalia County are getting ready to go tobacco-free and they're making sure everyone knows about it. WVU Hospitals, Mon Health Systems, and HealthSouth Rehabilitation are all counting down the days until their properties are completely tobacco-free. It's impossible to visit any of the institutions without seeing the transition, and officials say that's the point. ... South Shore Hospital going tobacco-free ... the doors on less palliative zones: smoking areas. The Weymouth hospital said it will ban tobacco use across its entire campus beginning Tuesday. ... Also, citing a community health issue, the Butte County Fairgrounds has announced a smoke-free environment effective this year. The one temporary designated ... Majority of US hospitals will have smoke-free campuses by end of year WASHINGTON DC, Aug. 20, 2009—While hospital buildings are often smoke-free, a new study finds that by February 2008, 45 percent of US hospitals had adopted "smoke-free campus" policies, meaning that all the property owned or leased by the hospital, both indoors and outdoors, was smoke-free and there were no designated smoking areas on those properties. The study, "The Adoption of Smoke-Free Hospital Campuses in the United States," is the first of its kind to examine the national prevalence of smoke-free hospital campus policies. It was conducted by The Joint Commission, the world's largest healthcare standards setting and accrediting body, and researchers from the Henry Ford Health System's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. The study was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and appears in the online version of the peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Control. "Besides the 45 percent that already had smoke-free campuses, another 15 percent indicated that they would be implementing similar policies in the near future. Hence, it is safe to assume on the basis of these results that the majority of US hospitals will have smoke-free campuses by the end of 2009," according to Scott C. Williams, PsyD, of The Joint Commission. The 2008 data shows that not-for-profit hospitals were more likely to have smoke-free campuses than for-profit hospitals. The 2008 data also shows that hospitals in Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin had among the highest proportion of smoke-free campuses. Hospitals in several tobacco states also had significant proportion of smoke-free campuses. "In 1992, The Joint Commission implemented a standard which required hospitals to adopt a non-smoking policy throughout all buildings, limiting smoking to separate, ventilated areas. At that time, fewer than 3 percent of hospitals extended this indoor smoking ban to include the entire hospital campus, both indoors and outdoors. Our study shows that around 2004-2005 this began to change dramatically. Now a majority of the nation's hospitals do not allow smoking anywhere on their property," Williams said. The study examined the current smoking policies and future plans of 1,916 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals to determine the prevalence of smoke-free hospital campus policies and whether such policies had an impact on smoking cessation counseling offered in those hospitals. The study found that not-for-profit hospitals were slightly more likely to offer smoking cessation counseling than for-profit hospitals. The study also found that federally owned hospitals were less likely to have smoke-free campuses. This, according to the study, was likely due to the influence of federal legislation requiring all Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals to have a suitable and accessible patient indoor smoking area for patients and residents. "Such legislation makes it virtually impossible for VA hospitals to adopt a completely smoke-free campus," Williams said. All N.C. hospitals shun tobacco usage to protect patients FAYETTEVILLE – Starting Monday, all hospitals in North Carolina are tobacco free. It’s the goal of a program created by N.C. Prevention Partners and the N.C. Hospital Association. The program first started three years ago with a $600,000 grant from Duke Endowment. Hospitals joining the program agree to make their campus 100 percent tobacco-free, including buildings, sidewalks and parking lots. Organizers say North Carolina now leads the nation in tobacco-free hospitals and will protect millions of patients, visitors and hospital employees from second-hand smoke. ... List of North Carolina tobacco-free facilities WMC bans smoking on campus Wyoming Medical Center will become one of 16 hospital campuses in the state to be completely nonsmoking. As of July 1, there will be no designated smoking areas in or around the hospital, including the parking garage and adjacent sidewalks, the hospital announced Wednesday at its quarterly open board of directors meeting. HEALTH: Kaleida Health sites to go smoke-free as of July 1 All Kaleida Health sites in Western New York will become entirely smoke-free on July 1, officials said Wednesday. “Improving the health of our community is our core mission,” said James R. Kaskie, president and chief executive officer of Kaleida. “As a health care delivery system, it is important that we promote an anti-smoking environment.” Kaleida, the largest health care provider and biggest private employer in Western New York, includes Buffalo General Hospital, DeGraff Memorial in North Tonawanda, Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban and Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Under the new policy, no one will be permitted to smoke on the property of any Kaleida Health facility, including its hospitals, long-term care facilities, primary care sites and several other locations. |
| Additional Resources |
| North Carolina Prevention Partners' Healthy Hospital Initiative University of Michigan, Tobacco Consultation Services Maryland Hospital Association Smokefree Hospitals Tool Kit Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention Walden House Tobacco Free Press Visit www.pslgroup.com/dg/medassoc.htm, for a list of hundreds of healthcare organizations and associations.
|
