News

It’s official. Moundview Memorial Hospital & Clinics is now a tobacco free campus as of November 16, 2006. Smoking and the use of any tobacco products will not be permitted both indoors and outdoors on any MMH&C premises including parking lots and private vehicles parked in the lots. All of Wisconsin’s hospitals are being asked to adopt similar policies by this time next year. 

 

“As health care providers, we must be role models for good health,” said Janet Brown, CEO at Moundview Memorial. “The dangers of tobacco use and second hand smoke are well documented. Allowing people to smoke on our grounds is not compatible with our mission as a healthcare facility.” 

 

“We’re not telling people to quit smoking,” said Brown.  “We certainly recommend it, but it’s their right to choose. What we are asking is for our employees, patients and visitors to support our efforts to be tobacco free by refraining from smoking on our grounds.” 

 

Until now, MMH&C had allowed employees to smoke in a designated area and generally looked the other way when visitors smoked outside the facility’s entrances. As of November 16, all ashtrays will be removed from the entrances and the employee “butt hut” will be dismantled. 

 

To help make the transition to a tobacco free campus easier, several plans were put into place. Hospitalized patients who are tobacco users will be offered nicotine patches during their stay to ease withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine gum, hard candy, and regular gum will be available to visitors who have loved ones in the emergency department.       

 

For employees and community members who are interested in quitting smoking, “Freedom From Smoking” cessation classes have been offered on a monthly basis. The classes are free to MMH&C employees and are available to the public for a small fee. For information on future classes, contact Bonnie at (608) 339-8301.

 

Tobacco Free Campus signs have been posted at all hospital parking lot entrances, building entrances and across MMH&C property as appropriate. Letters were sent to the immediate neighbors of Moundview to inform them of the new policy. A “reminder card” was also made for staff to hand out to those using tobacco on hospital grounds as a reminder that tobacco use is prohibited.    

 

By this time next year, lighting up in or near a hospital may be a thing of the past according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA). The WHA Board of Directors is asking hospitals to implement tobacco-free campus policies by November 2007. Roughly half of Wisconsin’s 132 hospitals already have such a policy; another 50 are tobacco free in the hospital building.  Moundview is ahead of the game having adopted their recent campus-wide policy. 

 

Tobacco use is the leading cause of disease and death in the United States. According to the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, 7,000 Wisconsin residents die every year from disease directly caused by cigarette smoking. There are 800,000 smokers in Wisconsin, representing 22 percent of all state residents. More than 70 percent of Wisconsin smokers want to quit and 50 percent try each year.