Hospital’s tobacco ban to be extended

By Bennie Scarton Jr.

Published: May 15, 2008

The Prince William Health System will greatly expand its tobacco-free environment.

Effective May 31, a new policy will ban tobacco use from not only inside Prince William Hospital but throughout the hospital grounds, including vehicles in the parking lots.

The new tobacco-free policy applies to employees, visitors, patients, contractors, students, volunteers, physicians and anyone else at the hospital and also to other properties affiliated with the health system, such as the Gainesville Medical Center; Caton Merchant House, an assisted living facility; and the Haymarket Health Center, which will open June 2 and offer comprehensive diagnostic imaging and rehabilitation services, a laboratory and emergency room.

'The Health System is an advocate for good health and the research is clear on the adverse effects of tobacco products," said Cynda Tipple, chief operating officer of the hospital. "They are a major cause of preventable disease and death, and secondhand smoke—even outdoors—is a significant cause of disease as well."

The Health System follows a nationwide trend of healthcare facilities kicking the nicotine habit. Fauquier Hospital announced that its facilities will be tobacco-free in July 2008 and Inova Health System did likewise last fall.

May 31 was chosen because it is recognized every year as World No Tobacco Day.

That means after that date no one can light up anywhere on the hospital's 52-acre campus—not even going to their car to grab a quick puff.

According to Karyn O'Brien, director of the Intensive Outpatient Program at the hospital, the health benefits of quitting tobacco usage are many:

• 20 minutes after quitting: heart rate and blood pressure drops;

• 12 hours after quitting, carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal;

• Two weeks to three months after quitting, circulation improves and long function increases;

• One to nine months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease; and cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs.

To assist people who would like to quit smoking, the hospital is offering smoking cessation classes. The six-week educational class is conducted once a week on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Birthing Center conference room. The program fee is $210 and registration is required with the fee to be paid in advance. To get more information on the class, call 703-369-8403.

The hospital has been tobacco-free inside for more than 25 years.

Staff writer Bennie Scarton Jr. can be reached at 703-369-6707.