Montgomery hospitals will ban tobacco products at facilities
Hospitals in Montgomery today will jointly announce a no-exceptions policy prohibiting tobacco use.Baptist Health, Jackson Hospital and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. today at the Alabama Department of Public Health. The hospitals will announce that effective Jan. 1, 2011, no tobacco will be allowed on hospital property. The ban will include sidewalks, grounds and facilities.The tobacco ban, which already is in place at more than 40 hospitals in the state, will apply to employees, visitors and patients.The measure is part of the hospitals’ overall commitment to improving health, hospital leaders stated in a news release.
“The hazards of smoking and tobacco use are well-known,” Don Henderson, Jackson Hospital president and CEO, said in the written statement.”Our health-care facilities are joining together to take a more aggressive stance against the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.,” he said.
During the next six months, each organization will develop its respective tobacco-free policy. Informational signage will be created, cessation programs will be enhanced, and multiple notices to patients, visitors, employee and physicians will be distributed, according to the news release.”Clearly this is in line with our collective mission to improve the health of the community,” Linda Wade, CEO of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Montgomery, said in the statement.
“We hope that the public we serve will join Baptist Health, Jackson Hospital and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in supporting this expanded commitment to community health,” said Russell Tyner, CEO of Baptist Health.