Smoke-free LMH / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, May 24, 2006

It may not be a popular move with some, but a broader smoking ban fits with the healthy mission of Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

J-W Editorials

May 24, 2006

Given the long list of health complications attributed to smoking, allowing people to smoke in or near a hospital seems incompatible with the facility's health care mission.

At least that's the conclusion of Lawrence Memorial Hospital officials who have decided that, as of Sept. 1, no smoking will be allowed on LMH property. Smoking already is prohibited inside the hospital, but the ban will be extended to all outdoor areas, not only at the main hospital at 325 Maine but also at LMH South, located near Kasold Drive and Clinton Parkway.

"We want to be the leaders in health care, and we want to show it in what we do at our locations," said Gene Meyer, LMH president and CEO.

Although the smoking ban makes perfect sense for a health-care organization, it is a tough stance that is bound to create dissension among some employees and visitors. The ban also prohibits smoking in vehicles and allows hospital officials to send an employee home to change if his or her clothes smell of tobacco smoke. The goal clearly is to encourage all employees to quit smoking, and LMH will offer free smoking cessation classes to help in that process.

Some people are bound to be unhappy, but many employees and visitors probably will applaud the new policy.

LMH is not alone in the no-smoking initiative. Manhattan's Mercy Regional Health Center and Topeka's St. Francis Hospital have implemented similar bans. An official of the Manhattan hospital said the policy had been well-received.

We hope that also will be the case at LMH. Smoking tobacco is a choice for those who do it, but it's not something they should share with patients or visitors to the city's central health care facility.