Seven local hospitals ban smoking campuswide

RICHMOND, Va. -- Employees, patients and visitors smoked their last cigarettes at Henrico Doctors' and Bon Secours Richmond hospitals yesterday.

Using today's Great American Smokeout campaign as a kickoff point, the hospitals are becoming tobacco-free campuses inside and out.

HCA Inc.-owned Henrico Doctors' campuses going smoke-free today include Retreat, Forest and Parham. HCA's Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals went tobacco-free in 2008. John Randolph will go smoke-free later.

The Bon Secours Richmond's hospitals banning all tobacco products inside and out are Memorial Regional, Richmond Community, St. Francis and St. Mary's.

The bans cover even parking garages on hospital properties, but some leased spaces at St. Mary's may be excluded.

"Our mission is to protect the health of those in the community and to promote a culture of healthier living," said Lucie L. Ferguson, Bon Secours Richmond community health advocacy administrative director.

The no-tobacco policies apply to everyone -- staff, physicians, patients and visitors.

Before today, smokers could light up on a loading dock or outside certain entrances at Henrico Doctors' Forest campus, for instance. At Bon Secours St. Mary's, smoking was permitted on an outside patio.

A spokeswoman said an estimated 250 employees across the three Henrico Doctors' campuses smoke. A Bon Secours spokeswoman said about 9 percent of employees smoke, and many have tried to quit in the past six months.

VCU Health System is smoke-free inside buildings and around front entrances like those at the Gateway Building and Massey Cancer Center. Smoking is allowed in parking garages. People can also go just a few feet and be on a public street and not subject to VCU's policy.

VCU spokeswoman Pamela D. Lepley said smoking policy revisions are in the works.

"We are looking to have it become a tobacco-free health-sciences campus around the medical center as of June 30, 2010," Lepley said.

Agencies like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association applaud the move by the hospitals.

A report in August said 35 percent of Virginia hospitals ban smoking campuswide, with an additional 15 percent planning to go tobacco-free.

"Providing smoke-free workplaces in the best way to help eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke," said Cathleen Grzesiek, senior director for governmental relations at the American Heart Association.

Hospitals today will have smoking-cessation materials on hand and have increased classes to help workers who want to quit. Signs inside and outside the buildings announce the new policies.

The adult smoking rate rose slightly from 2007 to 2008 -- the first increase in more than a decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 20.6 percent of adults in the U.S. smoked in 2008, compared with 19.8 percent in 2007.

The Great American Smokeout, an American Cancer Society initiative, asks people to quit for at least one day with the hopes they will try to quit permanently.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or .