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Triangle hospitals go tobacco-free on Independence Day
On the day that celebrates independence and freedom, North Carolina’s three major Triangle area health systems will declare tobacco-free campuses for their patients, visitors and employees.
June 28, 2007
Triangle Hospitals Go Tobacco-Free On Independence Day
On the day that celebrates independence and freedom, North Carolina’s three major Triangle area health systems will declare tobacco-free campuses for their patients, visitors and employees. The three health systems, including Duke University Health System, UNC Health Care and WakeMed Health & Hospitals, will officially became 100 percent tobacco-free on July 4. Combined, these three health systems employee nearly 40,000 health care workers and serve nearly 3,000,000 patients, from all 100 counties in North Carolina.
While all Triangle hospitals have been smoke-free inside the facilities for over a decade, the new policies’ prohibit the use of tobacco products anywhere on hospital property for employees, physicians, patients and visitors. Hospitals included in these systems are Duke University Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Durham Regional Hospital, Rex Healthcare, UNC Hospitals, WakeMed Raleigh Campus, WakeMed Cary Hospital and WakeMed North Healthplex. Outlying and ancillary facilities included in these health systems will also operate as completely tobacco-free.
Duke Medicine, UNC Health Care, and WakeMed Health & Hospitals join almost 50 percent of the hospitals in North Carolina, and a growing number of health care facilities across the nation, which have already made the decision to go tobacco-free. This action supports the mission of the Triangle area hospitals to promote health and wellness in the community.
Persons wishing to quit have been and will continue to be provided with resources available through Quit Now NC!, such as its tobacco use quit line 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). Each facility has also issued a series of protocols for staff to follow when a patient or visitor requests smoking cessation assistance.
About UNC Health Care
The UNC Health Care System is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and to provide state-of-the-art patient care. UNC Health Care is comprised of UNC Hospitals, ranked consistently among the best medical centers in the country; the UNC School of Medicine, a nationally eminent research institution; community practices; home health and hospice services in seven central North Carolina counties; and Rex Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County. For more information, visit www.unchealthcare.org.
Media contact: Lynn Wooten, (919) 966-6046 or LWooten@unch.unc.edu