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BRHC Hospitals to go Tobacco-Free
Blue Ridge HealthCare joins with other area hospitals to
provide smoke-free campuses
A message from our President & CEO, Kenneth W. Wood
Dear Fellow Employees:
We have made an historic resolution for 2006 on behalf of you, and our patients, visitors, volunteers, and medical staff. We believe that both JCAHO and CMS are moving in the direction of eliminating the use of tobacco on hospital campuses. We have decided to be a role model in promoting healthy lifestyles and encouraging freedom from tobacco use for the communities we serve.
Therefore, we are entering into a common goal with other healthcare institutions in Western North Carolina to become a tobacco-free campus on February 14, 2006. Together, Blue Ridge Healthcare, Catawba Valley Medical Center, Caldwell Memorial Hospital, Cannon Memorial Hospital, Frye Regional Medical Center, and Watauga Medical Center will achieve this goal.
We all know the documented evidence of the negative impact of tobacco use and smoking on the health of the user and those exposed to second hand smoke. We all are involved in some way in treating those who suffer from the affects of tobacco use.
To help all of us achieve this goal, each hospital has formed a Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force to look at ways other organizations have successfully implemented tobacco-free plans, and to develop and carry out a customized plan of their own.
Because we all have responsibilities in creating our tobacco-free campus, the Task Force will be developing tools to help all of us make this transition and to ensure all who enter our campus respect our tobacco-free status. A task force contact list will be included with an upcoming survey to be distributed with the next payroll.
Employees who use tobacco are not required to quit, but only refrain from using tobacco products while on our campus. However, if an employee or volunteer wants to quit smoking or using smokeless tobacco, we will provide a variety of programs designed to help them. Further details on these and other cessation opportunities will be available soon.
We invite your input and feedback on making the successful move to a tobacco-free campus. Please complete a Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative Survey. You can place your completed survey card in interoffice mail and send to Human Resources.
We realize this is a big change and we want to thank you for your help and cooperation with this initiative.
Sincerely,
Kenneth W. Wood
President & CEO of Blue Ridge HealthCare
The second largest employer in Burke County, Blue Ridge HealthCare serves a four-county area and includes Grace and Valdese hospitals, Blue Ridge Home HealthCare, Grace Heights and College Pines Health & Rehabilitation Centers, Grace Ridge Retirement Community, Phifer Wellness Center and a number of physician practices.
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