UVa prohibits smoking on hospital property

As of Thursday, patients, employees and visitors will no longer be allowed to smoke on the property of the University of Virginia Medical Center.

As part of the hospital’s effort to transition to a smoke-free environment, smokers will no longer be able to smoke in front of the hospital’s entrance, outside the primary care center, at the medical center’s outpatient clinics, in the parking garages and at the Elson Student Health Center.
Smokers still wanting to light up will have to walk to Jefferson Park Avenue.

“We want to protect staff, patients and visitors from secondhand smoke, which causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke,” Dr. Jonathon Truwit, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said in a news release. “We also want to be considerate of people who smoke and provide resources to ease their cravings or help them quit.”
As part of the transition, UVa will offer patients and visitors free “comfort kits” that include tips on quitting smoking, word puzzles and hard candy, said Megan Rowe, a hospital spokeswoman.

Employees will be able to attend a smoking cessation program called “Hoos Healthy” that is part of the hospital’s benefits package and includes free help from “quit coaches” and three months of free nicotine replacement therapy. To date, 144 employees have enrolled.
UVa will offer out-patients anti-smoking lozenges in certain high-stress situations. In-patients may be prescribed a nicotine patch, Rowe said.
Violators of the new smoking ban will be respectfully asked to extinguish their cigarette. Rowe said there are no fines associated with the ban, but if someone refuses to put out their cigarette, hospital security or UVa police may be called.