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Niagara Falls Memorial, Mount St. Mary’s to go smoke-free in 2008

Mount St. Mary's Hospital and Health Center and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center have announced their hospital campuses will become smoke-free zones effective next July 21.

They were among several Western New York hospitals to announce campus-wide no smoking policies as part of the American Cancer Society’s “Great American Smokeout.”

“The adoption of a smoke-free campus supports and advances the mission of both our hospitals to reduce the burden of tobacco use and diseases caused by tobacco,” said Mount St. Mary’s President and CEO Judith A. Maness.

The new policy will apply to patients, visitors, employees, students, trainees, volunteers and vendors at Memorial’s downtown Niagara Falls campus, including the Hamilton B. Mizer Primary Care Center, and at the Mount St. Mary’s campus in Lewiston.  The smoke-free areas will include all buildings, grounds, parking lots and vehicles on those campuses.

Memorial President & CEO Joseph A Ruffolo noted that a recent employee survey completed at the Niagara Falls hospital showed overwhelming support for a smoke-free campus policy.

“We have an obligation to the community and to all who walk through our doors to model safe health practices and to separate ourselves from self-destructive and potentially lethal habits that can adversely affect the health of our patients, visitors and valued staff members,” Ruffolo said.  “As we implement the transition to smoke-free facilities, the clinical and non-clinical departments at both our hospitals will work closely with the American Cancer Society, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition and SEIU1199 to ensure that our policies and initiatives respect everyone’s rights to a healthy environment.”

Efforts are already underway to inform patients, family members, visitors and hospital employees about the new policy and to provide support to any who may want to quit smoking.  Both hospitals will be providing numerous smoking cessation programs and other support services and will work with area physicians and pharmacies to assist in providing nicotine replacement products and counseling both locally and through the New York State Smokers Quit Line (1-866-NY-QUITS; www.nysmokefree.com).

“Smoking causes many different cancers and accounts for some 30 percent of all cancer deaths. The sooner someone quits the better off they will be,” noted Ms. Maness. “We know this is going to be an adjustment for some people. We can’t force someone to stop smoking, but we don’t have to accommodate their smoking either. So far support for the policy has been great.”