Model Tobacco Free Hospital Policy Examples - 8/31/07

Q: Are there states that have moved their statewide public and private hospitals to adopt a model 100% tobacco free hospital policy that have included cessation promotion strategies in the policy, including screening for tobacco use at triage, clinicians providing brief cessation counseling, then clinician referral to the state Quit Line or local cessation programs?  Georgia is requesting copies of such model policies if they exist.

A:

  1. Alabama – Alabama does not have anything of use. 
     
  2. Arkansas – Arkansas has only smokefree campuses, not cessation promotion strategies.
     
  3. Iowa - Attached is a sample policy to share from Iowa:
    IA_Sample Hospital Policy Wellmark
     
  4. Montana – Attached is Montana’s model hospital or medical facility policy:
    MT_Generic Hospital Policy_FINAL
     
  5. Nebraska – Nebraska has created a resource guide that includes a few sample policies and other information that may be helpful to Georgia and others.
    Resource Guide Targets Hospitals
    Moving Toward a Tobacco-Free Future is a resource guide to assist hospitals and health systems in their efforts to implement tobacco-free campus policies.  The Nebraska Hospital Association partnered with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco Free Nebraska and Nebraska CARES (Cancer Awareness, Research, Education and Service) programs to publish the resource guide.
    http://www.nhanet.org/publications/tobacco_free.pdf
     
  6. New Hampshire – New Hampshire’s tobacco policy is not a state-wide policy but covers our hospital, clinic and our satellite offices in our service area. Every patient who is identified as a tobacco user receives a packet of information upon admission.  Every doctor in our clinic should be asking all patients about their tobacco use status. Our tobacco cessation counselor is available to meet with in-patients and out-patients, as well as a pulmonary rehabilitation specialist and a pre- and postnatal tobacco cessation specialist who sees pregnant and new moms.  We are working hard to make sure that every single patient that comes to our facility is asked about tobacco use and referred accordingly. We offer tobacco cessation classes and monthly "Tobacco-Free or Trying to Be" support groups at two hospitals in our area. We offer free one-on-one tobacco cessation classes and assistance with nicotine replacement therapies. We also have an employee tobacco cessation program which allows employees a benefit of 5 weeks worth of nicotine replacement therapies and free tobacco cessation counseling and classes. I should also mention that we do not have any ash trays on our campus and ask anyone seen smoking to leave the property.  The policy can be accessed at:
    NH_Smoking Policy 1
     
  7. New York – New has provided a sample policy:
    NY_Smoking tobacco free environment
     
  8. North Carolina (1) – See materials posted at this link:
    www.ncpreventionpartners.org/hospitals
     
  9. North Carolina (2) – With funding from the Duke Endowment and in partnership with the NC Hospital Association, I manage the Healthy Hospital Initiative. We have posted the policies that have been adopted by hospitals here in NC. I provide training and technical assistance and develop materials for hospitals. Based on the experience of the 87 hospitals that have already passed this policy, I have developed information on best practice for hospital-based tobacco cessation programs and best practice for signage. You will find all this information at our Healthy Hospitals website. The Healthy Hospital Initiative is a program of NC Prevention Partners. I have conducted training programs in this area around the country and will present on two occasions at the upcoming national tobacco control conference in Minneapolis. I am available to conduct a training in Georgia and share the experiences and recommendations of NC hospitals. We lead the nation in this initiative.  The Healthy Hospital Initiative (HHI) supports hospitals to establish campuses that are 100% tobacco-free. HHI, a program of NC Prevention Partners and in partnership with the NC Hospital Foundation, is funded by The Duke Endowment. Editor’s note (2009): Many of the materials are now under restricted access and only available through the WorkHealthy Assessment on the Healthy Hospitals website. The Assessment is an easy-to-use online tool that allows worksites to assess their wellness policies and practices and receive detailed reports outlining their successes, and customized tools and resources to improve their wellness environment.
     
  10. Oregon - The Oregon TPEP has partnered with Make It Your Business to promote tobacco-free hospital policies in Oregon. Details and the tools are at http://www.makeityourbusiness.net/.  In addition, the Step Up! Campaign and the Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program are sponsoring an RX for Change Clinician Assisted Tobacco Cessation Train the Trainer on October 19, 2007. Each hospital can send one employee for free, For more information please visit: https://programs.regweb.com/beattygroup/rxforchange/.  
     
  11. South Dakota – South Dakota has some information to share:
    http://www.healthysd.gov/Documents/healthcarepolicy.pdf (direct link to a sample policy of a hospital in SD -- if this doesn't "work", it can be found on our Tobacco-free resources page for businesses below)
    http://www.healthysd.gov/TobaccoFreeResources.html
    http://www.healthysd.gov/tobaccofree.html
    The three hospital systems (own all the hospitals in SD & most health care clinics) agreed to go TF (system wide), when the Governor announced that state gov. in SD (executive branch) would go TF in Nov 2005.  The major hospital systems' individual policy can be found by contacting them directly,
    http://www.sanfordhealth.org/ (link to largest system in SD) -  Sioux Falls - Sanford Hospital USD Medical Center
     
  12. West Virginia - WV DTP has enlisted the assistance of our West Virginia Hospital Association regarding this effort!  They have developed a WVHA Tobacco-Free Hospitals Initiative.  The contact for this project is: Cinny Kittle, Project Director; 304-344-9744 (office); ckittle@wvha.org.  See the WVHA's website at  http://www.wvha.com/ regarding the WVHA's

    Tobacco-Free Hospitals Toolkit which includes:
    • Introduction: Moving Toward Tobacco-Free Campuses (.pdf)
    • The Toll of Tobacco in West Virginia (.doc)
    • Checklist for Taking Action (.doc, .pdf)
    • Sample Policies for a Tobacco-Free Environment (.htm)
    • Tobacco-Free Initiative Employee FAQs (.doc)
    • Tobacco-Free Initiative Public FAQs (.doc)
    • Tobacco-Free Power Point Presentation:
    • Table of Contents (.doc)
    • Slides (.ppt)
    • What is Secondhand Smoke? (.doc)
    • Six Conclusions of the Surgeon General (.doc)
    • Media Resources:
      1. Sample Press Release (.doc)
      2. Sample Newsletter Article (.doc)
      3. Sample Letter for Medical Staff to Send to Patients (.doc)
      4. Sample Letter to Adjacent Businesses (.doc)
      5. Sample Letter in Response to Opposition (.doc)
      6. Sample Letter to Ambulance, Fire and Police (.doc)
      7. Sample Follow-Up Letter to Ambulance, Fire and Police (.doc)
      8. Sample Letter to Vendors and Suppliers (.doc)
      9. Sample Letter to the Community (.doc)
      10. Sample Visitor Reminder Cards (.pub)
    • Posters:
      • Basic No Smoking Sign (.pub)
      • Pregnant Woman (.pdf, .pub)
      • Surprised Woman (.pdf, .pub)
      • She Can't Conquer a World She Can't Breathe In (.pdf, .pub)
      • Secondhand Smoke is Deadly (.pdf, .pub)
      • No one Ever Says Stop and Smell the Smoke (.pdf, .pub)
      • Sick Child (.pdf, .pub)
      • Secondhand Smoke is Scary (.pdf, .pub)
      • Hospitals are Tobacco-Free B&W(.pdf, .pub)
      • Hospitals are Tobacco-Free B&W with logo (.pub)
      • Hospitals are Tobacco-Free Color (.pdf, .pub)
      • Hospitals are Tobacco-Free Color with logo (.pub)
      • Red, White and Blue (.pub, .pdf)
      • Plain H with Logo (.pub)
      • Plain H without Logo (.pdf)
      • Plain H with Logo Color (.pdf)
      • Resources (.pdf)

  13. Wyoming – See seven documents for reference:

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