County hospitals to go tobacco-free

Ban will go into effect next week

The ban will apply to all patients, visitors and staff.

The goal, according to Judy Lichty, regional director of health and wellness for Adventist Health Care, is patient well-being.

‘‘If an employee comes in smelling like smoke, that could affect a patient’s asthma, or some other problem,” Lichty said. ‘‘We’re working hard to help everyone through this, whether it’s helping people quit or just not smoking during the work day.”

The date, Nov.15, was coordinated by the hospitals to fall on the same day as the Great American Smokeout, a nationwide event held annually to educate the public on the dangers of smoking.

The county’s restaurants went smoke free in October 2003, following a decision by the Montgomery County Council.

But the hospitals aren’t just banning smoked tobacco. In addition to cigarettes, cigars and pipes, they are also banning smokeless tobacco, including dip and snuff. The use of any of these products, including in a personal vehicle on campus, will be prohibited.

Currently all hospitals allow some smoking on their campuses, whether it is in designated smoking areas or in the smokers’ cars.

To educate the public about the upcoming ban, the hospitals have sent information packets to physicians countywide discussing the ban and ways to prepare their tobacco-using patients for hospital stays.

The packet includes information about nicotine replacement therapy and smoking-cessation classes.

‘‘For a patient to come into the hospital, then wheel out their IV pole and smoke, it wasn’t uncommon,” Lichty said. ‘‘We have to make sure physicians inform their patients beforehand about this.”

For patients and family members in the Adventist hospitals, there will be nicotine-replacement tools, like gums and patches, available in the gift shop, Lichty said.

Hospitals are trying to improve the health of their employees as well. Suburban Hospital will cover the costs of employees’ smoking-cessation drugs for the first six months, according to hospital spokeswoman Ronna Borenstein-Levy.

‘‘For many of our staff this is a challenge,” she said. ‘‘But there are many looking forward to it, because it has been difficult for them to quit in the past.”

Smokers outside of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital had mixed emotions about the ban.

‘‘Overall, I think peoples’ rights are being taken away,” said Joe Pelkey, an ambulance driver from Thurmont. ‘‘They need to stop picking on cigarette smokers and focus on alcohol. That’s the real killer.”

Pelkey added that he has written the governor and his senators about smoking bans, saying the government is changing laws it has no right to change.

‘‘Say you’re a non-smoker, but your wife or girlfriend smokes, so you smell like [smoke],” he said. ‘‘What are they going to do then?”

Others thought the change would be beneficial.

‘‘I guess it’s good,” said Jennifer Mason, of Gaithersburg. ‘‘If it makes the patients better then that’s all that matters.”

Hospitals throughout the country, including ones in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri, have banned smoking and tobacco products in recent years.

Frederick Memorial Hospital in Frederick will also ban all tobacco products beginning Nov. 15.

One expert hopes the ban in Montgomery County will create a domino effect.

‘‘This is a public health epidemic,” said Laurie Fenton-Ambrose, president and CEO of Lung Cancer Alliance, a Washington nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about lung cancer. ‘‘This is a very important step, and we just hope it will spread to other health centers around the country.”

Fenton-Ambrose spoke Friday at the first Washington Adventist Hospital Lung Cancer Symposium in Bethesda, attended by doctors and lung cancer experts from around the world.

Dr. Alfred Munzer, director of pulmonary medicine at Washington Adventist, also spoke at the symposium.

‘‘We really need to set an example for the community,” Munzer said. ‘‘The hospitals are taking a leadership position and saying this is wrong.”