Three Regional Hospitals Announce Expanded Tobacco-Free Programs at All Locations.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Three regional hospitals today jointly announced plans to expand "tobacco-free" zones on their respective campuses, including all satellite facilities.

While all three hospitals - NorthEast Medical Center in Concord, Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, and Stanly Memorial Hospital in Albemarle - have been tobacco-free inside their buildings for several years, the new policies will prohibit the use of tobacco products anywhere on hospital property.

Chief executive officers from the three hospitals made the announcement at a YMCA branch in Salisbury. Implementation will be phased in on different dates over the next few months, and all three hospitals said they are in line with national trends for healthcare facilities to prohibit use of tobacco products on their property.

"The elimination of second-hand smoke, which can have serious health consequences, is of primary concern to all of us in healthcare," said Roy M. Hinson, President and CEO at Stanly Memorial Hospital. "It's important for all three hospitals to lead the way in their respective communities in addressing a serious healthcare issue. This new policy does just that.

"While smoking has not been allowed inside the buildings for some time, smoking areas have been provided outside entrances. Those smoking areas will be eliminated."

Hinson initiated the joint effort by inviting the other CEOs to a meeting in March at Stanly Memorial Hospital in Albemarle.

As part of the implementation, the three hospitals will offer nicotine replacement products to staff, patients and visitors. Free smoking cessation classes and free nicotine products will be offered to employees who decide to quit using tobacco products.

"All three hospitals have been exploring this effort for several months with our physicians and clinical staffs," said Charles W. Elliott, Jr., CEO at Rowan Regional. "We've offered smoking cessation classes for employees and the public for some time. Now we're taking further steps to protect the health of our patients and visitors.

"At the same time, we recognize that use of tobacco products is highly addictive, and we hope to alleviate those difficulties by offering substitute products."

"The mission of all three hospitals is clear - to provide the best medical environment for the well being of patients," Elliott said. "Eliminating a product that causes thousands of deaths each year is a key factor in achieving that goal."

Don Dalton, a spokesman for the North Carolina Hospital Association, said the three hospitals' collaboration should be applauded.

"These hospitals join only a handful of other tobacco-free trailblazers in the state to take this step," Dalton said. "We believe this is the first time that three hospitals from different systems have coordinated the implementation of such a policy. This is certainly a noteworthy step by the hospitals toward setting a healthy example for their communities and working together to address common issues."

Physicians from the hospitals cited a litany of statistics in support of the hospitals' action, including:

--tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable deaths in North Carolina.

--someone dies from tobacco use every six seconds.

--one in every six deaths is tobacco related.

--70 percent of smokers want to quit, but don't know how.

While the hospitals' announcement established a deadline for implementation - November 17 for Rowan Regional and Stanly Memorial, the summer of 2006 for NorthEast - Hinson said all three CEOs recognize that acceptance will take time.

"We know how difficult it is to quit smoking or using other tobacco products because everyone here has a family member or friend who has tried to quit," Hinson said. "That's why we're giving people time to get used to the idea."

The three hospitals will launch education efforts on their respective campuses to inform employees and visitors about the new policy. New signage, including a logo jointly developed by the three hospitals, will be used over the next several weeks as reminders.

The hospitals also will encourage users of tobacco products to seek help by calling a toll-free number, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), where they can get more information and learn about cessation classes in their respective counties. The website is www.quitnownc.org.

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Questions About Second-Hand Smoke

Q. What is second-hand smoke?

A. Second-hand smoking, passive smoking, involuntary smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke all refer to the phenomena of breathing another person's smoke. Second-hand smoke is produced during the burning and smoking of tobacco products. It results from the "sidestream" smoke, which is emitted from the burning tip of a cigarette and the "mainstream" smoke that has been inhaled and then exhaled by the smoker.

Q. What is found in second-hand smoke?

A. Second-hand smoke is a complex combination of over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. It includes irritants and systemic toxicants such as hydrogen cyanide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and formaldehyde. It also contains carcinogens and mutagens such as arsenic, chromium, nitrosamines, and benzo(a)pyrene. Many of the chemicals are reproductive toxicants such as nicotine, cadmium and carbon monoxide.

Second-hand smoke is also in important indoor air pollutant. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has classified second-hand smoke as a "class A" carcinogen for which there is no safe level of exposure.

Q. Does second-hand smoke affect the health of non-smokers?

A. Yes. There is substantial scientific evidence that second-hand smoke is a serious health threat. Non-smokers who breathe second-hand smoke suffer many of the diseases of active smoking. Heart disease mortality as well as lung and nasal sinus cancers have been causally associated with second-hand smoke exposure.

Second-hand smoke also causes a wide variety of adverse health effects in children, including bronchitis and pneumonia, exacerbation of asthma, middle ear infections and "glue ear," which is the most common cause of deafness in children. Exposure of non-smoking women to second-hand smoke during pregnancy causes reductions in fetal growth, and there is also evidence that postnatal exposure of infants to second-hand smoke contributes to the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Tobacco smoke is also an important source of indoor air pollution, causing such immediate effects as eye and nasal irritation, headache, sore throat, dizziness, nausea, cough, and respiratory problems.

Source: World Health Organization