Mackinac Straits Hospital To Be Smoke Free by Sept. 1
By Ryan Schlehuber

Patients and staff will soon breathe a little easier at clinics in St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, and Naubinway as Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center plans to implement a tobacco-free policy Saturday, September 1. The plan coincides with a new state law to make all hospitals in Michigan tobacco-free by January 1.

Hospital employees have been participating in smoking cessation classes since June.

The hospital has provided a room where Long Term Care patients can smoke, however, only the handful of current resident patients at the hospital's existing long term care patients will be allowed to smoke on the premises. New patients admitted to long term care will be required to follow the new policy, explained Amy Dodds, co-manager of the hospital's radiology department and head of the tobacco-free awareness program for employees.

A requirement that long term care patients be assisted by a nurse or aide during a smoke break met on a voluntary basis.

Come September 1, outdoor ashtrays at the service entrance will be removed, and a storage barn, known as the employee "smoking shed," will be off limits, said Karen Cheeseman, the hospital's Human Resources Department director.

Nicotine gum, which helps smokers cope with breaking the habit, and information on smoking from Luce- Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft Health Department, will be available at the hospital for employees.

The policy will include strict enforcement, said Mrs. Cheeseman, but she noted that other hospitals in northern Michigan have made smooth transitions.

War Memorial in Sault Ste. Marie is now smoke-free and Helen Newberry Joy Hospital in Newberry will be an official tobacco-free zone Monday, August 6.

"This facility," said Mrs. Cheeseman, "is providing smoking cessation assistance to those employees who use tobacco products. Some employees are using the opportunity to quit smoking altogether, while others are preparing to get through their workday within the parameters of the hospital's new policy.

"Everyone," she said, "is adjusting to the fact that change is coming."

Mrs. Dodds said the change is for the better.

"This is a great opportunity for our health care organization to promote healthy living throughout the community," she said.