Miners Memorial Bans Smoking: Hospital and Its Clinics to Be Totally Smoke-Free, Beginning Sunday.

Jun 30, 07:33 AM

Current Headlines: By Chris Parker, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Jun. 30--Another in a growing list of hospitals has given butts the boot.

St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital in Coaldale, including its outpatient clinics in Schuylkill, Carbon and lower Luzerne counties, will be totally smoke-free as of Sunday, hospital officials announced.

Other hospitals in the St. Luke's network -- St. Luke's-Quakertown and St. Luke's-Fountain Hill --went smoke-free in January, as did Lehigh Valley Hospital.

St. Luke's Miners President William J. Crossin said barring the butts supports the hospital's commitment to public health.

"Throughout the long history of our hospital, we have never strayed from our primary mission to be advocates for the health of our community. We are here because we both care for and care about people -- our neighbors, friends, patients, trustees, physicians and employees," he said.

Smoke-free means lighting up is forbidden not only in buildings, but also anywhere on hospital grounds, meaning people can't puff huddled outside the doors, on sidewalks, in parking lots or even out behind the trash bins.

"We want our air to be clean so people can breathe easier," said LVH spokesman Matthew Burns. "And it promotes healthier behavior."

Before the change, smokers at LVH could not smoke in buildings, but could light up outside entrances, Burns said.

More hospitals are snuffing cigarettes.

Blue Mountain Health System spokeswoman Lisa Johnson said officials are planning to bar smoking anywhere on the campuses of its hospitals in Palmerton and Lehighton, but have yet to decide when to impose the policy. Currently, smoking is banned in buildings.

St. Luke's move comes as state lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban on smoking in public places and the workplace.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on June 11 voted to send the bill, sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, to the full Senate for consideration.

Even the state Department of Health has broadened its smoking ban.

Spokesman Dan Miller said the department in 2005 -- its 100th anniversary -- barred smoking from its grounds.

"It's nice. I walk in and it smells fresh," said Miller, a nonsmoker.

Miller said the department does not keep records on which hospitals bar smoking.

"We must help each other to create a smoke-free environment for everyone who visits our facilities in Coaldale and our surrounding neighborhoods," Crossin said. "Sensitive to the difficulty of this task, we will do what we always have done -- we will help each other."

A state Health Department survey this year found that while tobacco sales have shown a steady decline, "The prevalence of smoking in the United States and Pennsylvania has remained relatively unchanged."

A SLOW BURN

According to the results of a 2004 survey:

Adults who smoke: approximately 2,200,000

Younger adults (18-29) who smoke: 580,000

Older adults (65 +) who smoke: 150,000

College graduates who smoke: About 10 percent

High school dropouts who smoke: About 37 percent

Cigarette sales in the state declined 31 percent from 1997 to 2006.

Pennsylvanians who die annually from smoking-related causes: 20,000

Tobacco-related personal health care costs: $4 billion a year in Pennsylvania

For help to quit: 1-800-784-8669.

Source: state Health Department

chris.parker@mcall.com

610-379-3224

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