Circle of Excellence

Maria Parham Nears Tobacco-Free Date

February 14th has long been an important day for many of us to remember – it is Valentine’s Day.  Forget it and you may find yourself in a heap of trouble.  In 2008, February 14th takes on another message – “Tobacco-Free for You and Me”.   February 14th is the day that Maria Parham Medical Center goes Tobacco-Free.

Maria Parham Medical Center has long been a smoke-free facility.  The difference when it becomes a Tobacco-Free organization is two part:  First, the ban will include all tobacco products, including chewing tobacco, snuff, pipe tobacco, cigars and of course, cigarettes.  Second, the ban will include not only inside areas of the hospital, but all outside areas including parking lots and walkways.  This ban will include all Maria Parham owned properties such as the Vance Medical Arts Building (across from the hospital), the Medical Office Plaza (behind the hospital), the Jenkins Building (attached to the hospital) and Henderson Family Medicine Clinic, which is already Tobacco-Free.

The Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative, as it is known at Maria Parham, will include everyone who works there, visits or is a patient of the hospital or the physician offices that are located on Maria Parham Property.  The “Butt Huts” will be cleaned up and offered as a place for employees to enjoy a bit of fresh air.  Visitors who wish to smoke will be asked to leave the campus.  Patients will be offered education about tobacco cessation and their physicians may order nicotine replacement therapy for them while they are in the facility. 

Maria Parham Medical Center will be joining a long and rapidly growing list of hospitals in North Carolina that have either already gone Tobacco-Free or have announced their intention to do so.  Currently 101 hospitals in NC are Tobacco-Free with 20 additional facilities moving toward that goal.  Ironically, North Carolina, despite its deep ties with tobacco, is a leader in the nation for Tobacco-Free hospitals.  Locally, Granville Medical Center has set its Tobacco-Free go-live date as October 1, 2008.  Duke, UNC-Hospitals and WakeMed all went Tobacco-Free on July 4, 2007.   Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington will join Maria Parham Medical Center as the 102nd and 103rd Tobacco-Free Hospitals in North Carolina.

“As the region’s leading healthcare provider, we feel that it is our responsibility to serve as a role model for becoming a healthier workplace,” states Bob Singletary, President and CEO of Maria Parham Medical Center.  He adds, “We hope that by our going to a Tobacco-Free Campus, it will be a catalyst for our valuable employees who use tobacco products to quit.”  Singletary reminds everyone that the hospital is not requiring employees to quit smoking – they just cannot smoke on hospital property.

There are many reasons for a business, especially a hospital, to go Tobacco-Free.  The Center for Disease Control states that on average, each smoking employee costs a business $3,391 in additional medical expenses and lost productivity.   The Surgeon General recently reported that there is no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke.  Medically, patients who smoke have twice the risk of wound infections, their recovery stays are 20% longer and their bones take almost twice as long to heal as do non-smokers. 

The process of becoming a Tobacco-Free Campus is not something that happens overnight.  According to David Ruggles, Director of Marketing & Community Relations and the facilitator for Maria Parham’s Tobacco-Free Campus team, “We assembled a team representing a cross-section of our employees, including smokers, non-smokers and even former smokers, last May.  We have been meeting regularly and will do so until well after the implementation date.”   According to Ruggles, the team is working on policies, signage, communication, education and most importantly, offering smoking cessation programs that will help employees who would like to quit.  Maria Parham Medical Center also offers smoking cessation opportunities for employees of area physicians and tenants of Maria Parham owned buildings.  Information about smoking cessation and area resources is available to everyone, simply call (252) 436-1800 for assistance.

Maria Parham would like other businesses and organizations to join the Medical Center in its Tobacco-Free Initiative and become a healthier place to work.  If you have any questions about the Tobacco-Free Initiative, please e-mail the Maria Parham Marketing & Community Relations department at information@mphosp.org.