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· Smokefree Policies
· Hospitals/Medical facilities
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· Missouri
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Jump to full article: Joplin (MO) Globe, 2006-08-14
Author: Melissa Dunson
Intro: As Melissa Howell, of Joplin, walks through the parking lot at St. John's Regional Medical Center and prepares to light a cigarette, she wonders if the public is ready for its hospitals to go tobacco-free.
Local hospital administrators in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma are asking the same question as the Sept. 1 deadline approaches for many hospital campuses to prohibit all forms of tobacco use. Internal tobacco-free campaigns have helped curb negative comments from staff members and patients, but hospital visitors who are unaware may be in for a shock during their first visit after the change.
"It could be a PR nightmare," said Debbie Totty, spokeswoman for Integris Grove General Hospital in Grove, Okla.
"This is regulation, not legislation," said Carla Farmer, spokeswoman for Fort Scott Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, Kan. "Can we encourage it? Yes. Can we enforce it? No."
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