AUBURN — Auburn Memorial Hospital is set to clear the air aroundits 17 Lansing St. campus by instituting a tobacco-free policy forall buildings, parking lots and common areas.
“As a health care organization, we are committed to the healthand safety of our employees and patients,” AMH President and CEOScott Berlucchi stated in a release distributed Wednesday. “Webelieve that we have a responsibility to take a leadership role onthis major health issue and establishing our entire campus assmoke-free and tobacco-free firmly supports that belief.”
The new policy will take effect Sept. 1, according to RozMcCormick, AMH vice president.
McCormick said a smoking ban is already in place inside thehospital, but employees, patients and visitors are currentlyallowed to congregate outside the building and in speciallydesignated smoking areas.
Signs placed at the hospital Wednesday announced the forthcomingpolicy and said that smoking would no longer be tolerated in theareas formerly designated as smoking sections.
McCormick said the policy was approved by a special committeepartially made up of employees upon a recommendation of thehospital’s medical staff.
A $4,000 stipend awarded to AMH by the Tobacco Cessation Centerat St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center will help to facilitate theimplementation of the tobacco prohibition.
“They are helping us with the plan, because they have workedwith so many other places that have gone smoke free,” McCormicksaid. “I reckon this will help both the employees and the patientshere. We are going to have a program to help staff if they wantto quit and have products available for our physicians to use forpatients.”
McCormick said she did not know how many of the hospital’s staffcurrently smoke, but said some employees do use the designatedsmoking areas.
She said there haven’t been many complaints about the upcomingpolicy, mainly because representatives of the staff were involvedin the choice-making process.
“This is something that everyone expected was coming, so it wasthoroughly discussed with employees and union leadership before itwas implemented,” she said. “Of course, the staff is alwaysconcerned with major changes are made, but we want to try toinvolve them as much as possible.”
The policy does not violate any union agreements, McCormicksaid.
“By doing this we don’t really want to force anyone to quitsmoking,” McCormick said. “But we do want to show that we arecommitted to healthy living.”