» Hospital bans outdoor smoking

By Lise Hull
Staff Writer
Friday, July 25, 2008 | No comments posted. Bandon’s Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center is paving the way as a community leader by responding to Oregon’s no-smoking legislation with a new policy of its own. The facility became a tobacco-free campus on July 1.

The vision of hospital CEO Jim Wathen, a 39-year smoker who quit his habit about 16 months ago, the program has extended the state’s ban against smoking inside buildings to the entire hospital property.

Wathen believes that, as a community leader in a small city, the hospital has a level of responsibility for promoting healthy lifestyles.

“One of the worst problems is smoking,” he said.

“We don’t deserve recognition as a community leader if we don’t address this prime concern,” Wathen said.

According to the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon, each day 18 Oregonians die from tobacco use, 20 Oregon kids start smoking and 35,000 Oregonians are still exposed to secondhand smoke at work. TOFOC’s challenge to Oregonians is for communities to “take responsibility and become tobacco-free,” and “learn ways to fight the health and economic toll of tobacco use.” Southern Coos Hospital has stepped up to the challenge.

Now that Southern Coos is tobacco-free, hospital employees may no longer use any tobacco product on the campus. They are required to go off property if they must use tobacco during their workday, according to Wathen.

 Southern Coos cannot fine patients and other visitors if they choose to smoke on the property, Wathen said. But, staff will politely ask them to smoke or use tobacco in their vehicles. In-patients will have access to free counseling if they want to quit, he added.

The program also has taken a pro-active role by establishing specific programs to help those employees who wish to stop using tobacco products.

Through the Employee Assistance Program, hospital employees may seek personal counseling or take advantage of the services of a staff nutritional counselor to stop using tobacco.

The hospital’s doctors are authorized to prescribe “proscriptive aids” for the initial 30-day period, Wathen said. Employees may also use over-the-counter aids at work. These aids do not contain tobacco and are used to help wean users off nicotine, the addictive element in tobacco. “Nicotine is among the top 1 percent of the most addictive substances. Few things are more addictive,” Wathen said.

Wathen admits that smoking is an enjoyable habit. He noted that most smokers do not like to think that it is an addiction. He added that statistics indicate that an average of 15- to 20-percent of the population will always be smokers.

Knowing from personal experience how difficult it is to quit and that coming to a hospital can be stressful, Wathen stated that it is vital to have a supportive environment in which to stop using tobacco. The hospital has replaced ashtrays with candies as one subtle encouragement. Wathen also intends to give staff members individual recognition for quitting.

“If just one person quits, that makes the program a success,” he said.

For more information about specific rules regarding the new tobacco ban at Southern Coos, those interested can contact Lauren Paquet, administrative assistant, at 347-2426.