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SUMMER 2008 |
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Online Only
H E A L T H P R O M O T
I O N
Western Health
butts out
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Western Health has
introduced a new Smoke Free Properties Policy. Effective July 1, 2008,
patients, clients, visitors and staff will no longer be permitted to
smoke on any of its exterior grounds and parking lots.
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Submitted Article |
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Western Health has introduced a new
Smoke Free Properties Policy aimed at helping their patients and
employees butt out. Effective July 1, 2008, patients, clients,
visitors and staff will no longer be permitted to smoke on any of
its exterior grounds and parking lots.
Susan Gillam, CEO of Western Health, said
in a news release that the move towards a healthier environment stems
from the health authority’s strategic goal of improved population
health. “We know that smoking is one of the leading causes of
preventable heart disease and death. This move towards a smoke free
environment on all of our grounds will help us achieve our vision of
healthy people living in healthy communities,” said Gillam.
Dr. Minnie Wasmeier, chief operating
officer for secondary services and a member of Western Health’s Smoke
Free Properties Working Group, says it’s an opportunity for the health
authority to set an example to be smoke free. “On July 1st we will be
smoke free to the property line, we hope this will provide an incentive
for employees and clients who smoke to actually quit,” she said.
Western Health is the second of the
province’s four regional health authorities to introduce a sweeping
smoke-free policy. On January 1, 2008, Labrador-Grenfell Health became
the first authority in the province to have all of its owned and
operated properties designated smoke-free. Central and Eastern Health
prohibit smoking inside their facilities and many of them enforce
perimeter bans.
Tanya Barnes Matthews is regional health
educator and chair of the Tobacco Free Network, a committee of Western
Health with partners from the community. She said in a news release that
Western Health treats patients who are affected by tobacco use and the
illnesses that it causes. She says it’s only appropriate that the
organization enact policies to eliminate the risk to patients’ health
from their properties.
“Tobacco is a serious health threat to
public health and safety and anything we can do to stress that is a step
in the right direction.”
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