Columbia Memorial
Hospital initiates campus-wide no tobacco policy
Beginning in
January, Columbia Memorial Hospital will begin to create a
tobacco-free campus. By June 2006, there will be no smoking or
use of tobacco products anywhere in or around the hospital or
any of its off-campus facilities. The program will be phased
in over an 18 month period in order to allow time for staff to
gradually adjust to not being able to smoke during the workday.
"Inherent
in the mission of our hospital is the mandate to reduce the incidence
of death and disease," says hospital
CEO Jane Ehrlich.
"In 1987 the Surgeon General reported smoking
to be the leading cause of avoidable death. To facilitate smoking
in the face of this information is in direct conflict with our
hospital mission. Administration and our Board of Trustees recognize
that this is a challenging undertaking, but hospitals across
the country are embracing the tobacco free campus concept. To
allow smoking on campus where we are treating patients, many
of whom already have respiratory and/or cardiac disease, compounds
their illness." says
Ehrlich.
The hospital treats tobacco users with their innovative
Quit Program. It provides trained tobacco cessation specialists
who have counseling backgrounds to help the public, patients,
and their loved ones to stop smoking and live healthier
lives. This program was established at Columbia Memorial
under a $400,000 grant from the Department of Health.
Mary Daggett,
RN, Director of Community Health Services, who was responsible
for establishing the Quit Program at Columbia Memorial,
explains that the sight of someone lighting up, the smell of
cigarette smoke, or even the sight of cigarette butts on the
ground can trigger the desire to smoke in one who has quit or
is in the process of quitting.
"We cannot convince twin-county
residents and companies of the need to eliminate tobacco dependence
if we cannot be a model ourselves for healthier life choices," says
Daggett.
Daggett notes that a number
of agencies and organizations in the area are going tobacco-free
and that the New Year is a great time to begin this smoke-free
effort.
"With the start
of the New Year, people make resolutions to quit. In fact,
50% of all smokers make an attempt to quit, but traditionally
less than 10% succeed in quitting permanently. Research has
shown that smokers who use a form of nicotine replacement therapy
(NRT) have a higher success rate in quitting. The patch, gum
and other products, allow smokers to gradually reduce dependence
on cigarettes as a means of coping with anxiety, stress and
other emotions experienced during nicotine withdrawal. The
average smoker will try to quit about 6 times before giving
up cigarettes for good," says Daggett.
She says that it is never
too late to stop smoking for staff or for the general public
who use tobacco products. Even for people who have been smoking
for many years, there are immediate benefits to quitting. According
to health department statistics, after one year, an ex-smoker's
risk of having a heart attack is cut in half
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