HSC halts ban on smoking: Other area hospitals ready for Nov. 19

The HSC, Monongalia Health System, HealthSouth Mountain-View Regional Rehabilitation Hospital and WVU Healthcare -- which includes WVU Hospitals and University Health Associates (UHA) -- announced plans earlier this year to eliminate on-site smoking by the date of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, Nov. 19.

However, the HSC can't implement a smoking ban without approval from the WVU Board of Governors (BOG). The board met Friday, but the smoking policy was not on the agenda.

Dr. Fred Butcher, vice president for planning and operations, said the HSC will wait to see what happens with a campuswide smoking policy review initiated by WVU President James Clements.

"I'm absolutely confident we'll get there," Butcher said. "We just need to go through the appropriate process."

A green line was painted outside the HSC several years ago to mark the 50-foot distance from the facility where people are allowed to smoke. Elsewhere on campus, WVU's existing smoking policy -- established in 1990 -- prohibits smoking in buildings and universityowned vehicles, but students are allowed to smoke outdoors and in residence halls, with administrative approval.

At Friday's BOG meeting, Clements said a task force is being formed to review the smoking policy. Faculty, students and staff will be included, but Clements said it will likely take time to address the issue.

It can take a year or more to address a campus smoking policy, he said.

"The discussion about that is fairly complex," Clements said. "When are you on campus, when are you off campus. ... It's a complicated issue. I just want to allow people to have input."

The WVU Student Government Association (SGA) approved a resolution in support of a smoking ban at the HSC earlier this semester. SGA President Jason Zuccari said the resolution has been forwarded to the task force for consideration.

The smoke-free zone around the HSC will remain in effect while the smoking policy is being discussed. Butcher said officials could ask people outside the zone to refrain from smoking in the meantime, but they won't.

"We need to have an official policy," Butcher said. "It boils down to playing by the rules.

Amy Johns, a spokeswoman for HSC, WVU Hospitals and UHA, said WVU officials plan to repaint the green line before Nov. 19. The line faded over the years, and WVU has added new buildings, such as the HSC Learning Center and the Emma Byrd Biomedical Research Building, since it was first established.

"Those new boundaries will be marked," Johns said.

Johns said WVU Healthcare is ready to go smoke free Nov. 19 as planned, and Monongalia General Hospital is ready, too, according to spokesman Greg Kealey.

Ginger Dearth, a spokeswoman for HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, did not return a call to The Dominion Post in time for this report.

Johns said all the facilities involved have hosted classes and workshops to help employees quit smoking, and will continue to do so after the new rules take effect. WVU Healthcare employees can get additional information online, and hospital visitors who need nicotine replacement therapy while they're on site can make arrangements with a nurse.

Starting Nov. 19, Johns said WVU Healthcare will offer employees free nicotine replacement therapy for three months and 20 free pieces of nicotine gum every two weeks. The pharmacy and gift shop at Ruby Memorial Hospital will carry the gum for employees and guests who need it.

The West Virginia Tobacco Quitline will also offer free nicotine replacement therapy and counseling to employees of WVU Healthcare, Mon General and MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital and their spouses for a limited time.

"We've all been working together, all three entities, for months, to make this happen," Johns said. "We're figuring out how to address all the concerns people might have. ... We've done an awful lot to help people who either want to quit temporarily while they're at work or quit permanently."

WVU Healthcare will likely assist the university as it moves forward to review the smoking policy on campus, Johns said.

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