Press Release

Massachusetts Hospitals Continue to Lead Anti-Tobacco Efforts 50 Years after Surgeon General’s Report
 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
January 13, 2014

CONTACT: Catherine Bromberg
781-262-6027

As the country marks  the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking US Surgeon General’s Report warning  the public of the dangers of tobacco use, Massachusetts hospitals continue to advance this important public health effort through the third year of their statewide tobacco-free campaign. Under the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA)’s HEALING Inside and Out:  Tobacco-Free Hospitals initiative, more than 76% of member hospitals now completely ban the use of tobacco products anywhere on their campuses. 

These facilities have earned inclusion on MHA’s Tobacco-free Honor Roll, and have self-reported they ban the use of tobacco across their campus including parking lots and garages, with absolutely no exceptions. Tobacco-Free Hospitals also have policies which eliminate employee, patient and visitor exposure to tobacco smoke and assist employees and patients to quit smoking.

Then Surgeon General Luther Terry, who had been a smoker himself, issued the tobacco findings on January 11, 1964, just weeks after the assassination President John F. Kennedy, who had appointed Terry.  The report stated unequivocally that smoking causes illness and death. 

 “Many of us can hardly imagine the prevalence of tobacco products in American society at the time Dr. Terry’s report came out, but tobacco use was rampant 50 years ago,” said MHA President & CEO Lynn Nicholas. “At that time, more than 42 percent of adult Americans smoked, and smoking was permitted almost everywhere – including in hospitals. To come from that point to a complete ban of all tobacco on 76% of our member hospitals’ campuses is an incredible achievement. And I’m extremely proud of MHA’s role in support of such important and life-saving work.” 

In addition, some hospitals in Massachusetts, as well as MHA, have taken their commitment to public health a step beyond instituting a tobacco-free campus and have adopted tobacco-free hiring policies as well. MHA stopped hiring tobacco users as of January 1, 2011.

A list of hospitals in Massachusetts that no longer hire tobacco users and MHA’s Tobacco-Free Hospitals Honor Roll are below. To learn more about MHA’s HEALING: Inside & Out initiative, visit MHA’s web pages dedicated to the effort at www.mhalink.org.

The following hospitals no longer hire tobacco users:
Anna Jaques Hospital
Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Heywood Hospital
MetroWest Medical Center
New England Baptist Hospital
Saint Vincent Hospital

MHA’s Tobacco-Free Hospital Honor Roll:

Anna Jaques Hospital
Athol Memorial Hospital
Baystate Franklin Medical Center
Baystate Mary Lane Hospital
Baystate Medical Center
Berkshire Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beverly Hospital
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Medical Center
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Cambridge Health Alliance
Clinton Hospital
Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Inc.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc.
Emerson Hospital
Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital
Fairview Hospital
Franciscan Hospital for Children
Hallmark Health Corporation
Harrington Hospital
HealthAlliance Hospitals, Inc.
HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western MA
Hebrew Rehabilitation Center
Heywood Hospital
Jordan Hospital
Kindred Hospital Boston
Kindred Hospital Northeast - Stoughton
Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc. 
Lawrence General Hospital
Lowell General Hospital
Marlborough Hospital
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Massachusetts Hospital School
Mercy Medical Center
MetroWest Medical Center
Milford Regional Medical Center
Mount Auburn Hospital
New Bedford Rehabilitation Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital
New England Rehabilitation Hospital
Noble Hospital
North Adams Regional Hospital
North Shore Medical Center
Saint Vincent Hospital
Shriners Hospital for Children
Shriners Hospital for Children-Boston Burns Unit
Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital
Southcoast Hospitals Group
South Shore Hospital
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Boston
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for Continuing Medical Care Cambridge
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for Continuing Medical Care North Shore
Tewksbury Hospital
Tufts Medical Center & Floating Hospital for Children 
 
 




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