SkyRidge Medical Center is Going Tobacco-Free

SkyRidge Medical Center is dedicated to improving the health of the community they serve. Therefore, SMC, Main and Westside campuses, will become tobacco-free beginning Jan. 1, 2009. This initiative will also include the elimination of designated areas outside the facilities where employees, patients and visitors currently use tobacco products.

"As a health care organization, committed to the health and safety of our patients, we have a responsibility to take a leadership role on this major health issue. We have a further responsibility to treat the whole patient, both mentally and physically. Allowing patients to use tobacco products while in our care defeats this purpose," says Coleman Foss, CEO.

He continues, "We are asking for your support in our tobacco-free initiative. Our decision to go tobacco-free is not an attempt to "force" anyone to quit smoking. Rather, the tobacco-free initiative is a concrete way we can demonstrate our ongoing commitment to healthy living."

SkyRidge Medical Center has joined hospitals across Tennessee in an effort to become tobacco-free. Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States.

Smoking cessation classes are available through SMC. The cost is $25 per person. Space is limited. For more information contact John Smeltzer at 559-6177.