MOCKSVILLE ó Davie County Hospital will join almost all other North Carolina and nationwide hospitals when the hospital campus becomes tobacco free beginning July 1.
Signs about the new policy will be posted this month, and employees are being informed about policy enforcement through newsletter articles, posters and payroll stuffers.
Davie County Hospital became smoke free for all interior spaces beginning in 1995. The new policy will apply to all tobacco use and covers the parking lots, lawn areas, sidewalks and vehicles on the hospital property.
The hospital is among the last in North Carolina to mandate a campus-wide ban on smoking and other tobacco products.
“This new policy reinforces the high standard of service we give to the community by providing quality health care in a tobacco-free environment,” said Lynne Doss, hospital administrator. “The tobacco ban is a logical and wise step for the hospital to take, and it will be enforced throughout the Davie County Hospital campus.”
To ease the transition, the hospital is assisting with opportunities to cease tobacco use among the hospital’s employees, including free nicotine gum and discounted cessation drugs. Employees also will receive goodie bags with gum, mints and information about the use of tobacco products.”Most of us have experienced the devastation that tobacco-related diseases can have on family and friends,” Doss said. “We see it firsthand virtually every day at the hospital.
“This initiative and new policy may be the necessary catalyst for current smokers to quit as well as to prevent new smokers.”
An affiliate of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Davie County Hospital has served the needs of people from Davie and nearby counties for more than a half century. For more information about the hospital, log onto www.daviehospital .org or call 336-751-8100.