ARMC goes smoke free today
Crystal NelsonBy Crystal Nelson
News Staff Writer
Starting today, all Alpena Regional Medical Center properties become tobacco free. Officials at the hospital decided to make its campus tobacco free as requested by the Michigan Hospital Association.
"We have monitored the situation in Lansing. We recognize that this is something the state of Michigan may eventually mandate, so we want to be a head of the game," Wellness Coordinator Judy MacNeill said.
She said the hospital is celebrating the event and the majority of the staff, smokers and non-smokers alike, see it as a good thing.
MacNeill said the community is welcome to join the hospital in celebrating its transition to a tobacco-free campus in the lobby and cafeteria from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 3:30.-5 p.m. The day also coincides with the Great American Smoke-Out, an annual November event sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
For the past year, the hospital has offered information training for staff, physicians and volunteers and also has held tobacco-free practice days. MacNeill said the employees have gotten word and understand this could be a challenge for some. She said the hospital wants to recognize the challenge and be sensitive. As of tomorrow three pieces of nicotine gum and lozenges will be available for employees to help them get through their day for the next three months.
According to a press release from the ARMC, "all tobacco use will be prohibited at all hospital buildings and grounds, including vehicles and property owned or leased by ARMC and parking areas. The policy applies to all staff during compensated work time, contractors, vendors and their employees, physicians, volunteers, patients visitors, students and interns. Definitions of tobacco use include second-hand smoke, smokeless tobacco products, and any form of smoking including the lighting, smoking, or carrying of a lighted cigarette, pipe, cigar, or other personal item associated with the inhalation of a hazardous chemical."
MacNeill said the hospital has been working to make it clear through the media and through signs at the hospital that it is going smoke free. She said community members who are caught using tobacco products on the ARMC campus will be politely asked to put their cigarette out and told it is a tobacco-free campus. She said employees using tobacco products during compensated work time will be subject to the disciplinary process as it stands.
For more information about smoking cessation classes or other options, contact the ARMC Community Health Department at 356-7337.
Crystal Nelson can be reached via e-mail at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693.
