Beginning April 1, CAMC General Hospital is changing its tobacco policy. Tobacco use will not be allowed on any CAMC General Hospital property, which includes the parking and grassy areas around each building.
Anyone wishing to use tobacco products will be directed to the nearest public sidewalk (along Washington, Brooks, Lewis or Morris streets).
“We’ve changed our policy based on feedback from patients, family members and visitors,” said Mike Williams, CAMC General Hospital administrator. “We’re committed to providing everyone who comes to General Hospital with a tobacco-free environment.”
CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital changed its tobacco policy in August 2005 and CAMC Memorial Hospital changed its policy in January. Additionally, all CAMC owned care providers and offices will become tobacco-free April 1.
A number of employees have quit tobacco recently.
Paul Thomas, RN in surgery at General Hospital, smoked off and on since he was about 13. Every time he’d light up, he would say to himself “I need to quit.” It just wasn’t that easy.
“I coughed my head off,” Thomas said. “I knew I needed to quit. These things were killing me. But I still couldn’t stop. It’s hard to say ‘no.’”
Last November, as part of the Great American Smokeout, Thomas did quit thanks to Chantix. He had been diagnosed with bronchitis about a year earlier.
Kevin Hager, an anesthesia technician at General Hospital, says you have to be inspired to quit. For him, his uncle had just died of lung cancer due to smoking and his son was about to turn 3.
“That was my inspiration,” Hager said. “You have to want to quit and have reasons to quit.” He quit in September 2006 after 15 years of smoking.
Hager’s advice to people thinking of quitting is to stick with it. “It’s hard at first, but it gets easier as time goes on. You have to do things to get your mind off smoking and thinking about cigarettes.”
Both men agree that when they stopped smoking they felt better almost immediately. They breathe easier, don’t get tired as often, they aren’t coughing, food tastes better and Thomas says his bronchitis is gone.
“Cigarettes control just about every aspect of your life,” Thomas said. “Now I don’t plan lunch or breaks around smoking. I don’t worry about stopping at the store on the way home or on the way to work to buy cigarettes. I’m not worried about patients smelling smoke on my clothes or breath.”
