BMH Leads the Way with a Smoke-Free Campus
On Feb. 14, 2005, Beaufort Memorial
Hospital (BMH) implemented a smoke-free campus policy.
That policy continues today on the BMH campus. With the
continuing barrage of information on how damaging smoking
is to those who smoke, as well as to those around them,
hospitals across the nation are broadening their non-smoking
policies to include prohibiting smoking on their campuses,
as well as in their buildings.
“As the largest hospital between Savannah and Charleston, Beaufort Memorial takes its leadership role seriously,” said BMH interim President and CEO Jeff White. “ Members of our Board of Trustees asked us to look into the possibility of having a ‘Smoke-Free Campus’ as a way of modeling the behavior we want to see. It made sense to take this next step.”
“Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in the U.S.,” said Nora Kresch, director of the Public Relations and Marketing department at BMH. “It is very costly not only in lives lost, but also in its negative impact to society.”
The policy not only applies to hospital employees, but also to anyone on the hospital campus. So visitors and patients who come to Beaufort Memorial should be prepared to put out their cigarettes before they get out of their cars.
The Rewards of Quitting Smoking
Learn
how the immediate benefits of kicking the habit begin minutes after you
put out your last cigarette. Launch
interactive.
Learn
how tobacco can damage your entire body.