Making Berkeley County A Tobacco Free Community

By Dana M. DeJarnett, Health Promotion Specialist

According to the 2014 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, “The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress,” states that smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.
The scientific evidence is clear: inhaling tobacco smoke, particularly from cigarettes, is deadly. Since the first Surgeon General’s Report in 1964, evidence has linked smoking to diseases of nearly all organs of the body. The new report finds that smoking causes even more physical and financial damage than previously estimated, killing 480,000 Americans a year from diseases that include diabetes, colorectal cancer and liver cancer. On average, compared to people who have never smoked, smokers suffer more health problems and disability due to their smoking and ultimately lose more than a decade of life.
WV has the 2nd highest rate of smoking in the nation at 29.9% of adults (an increase from 2008). The costs of tobacco use can take a toll on individuals, their families, businesses and the community as a whole. For each employee that smokes, it impacts on the business’ bottom line by $4700. Annual healthcare expenses in WV directly related to smoking are $1.3 billion.
In 2006, The U.S. Surgeon General’s office issued a report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, that concluded (1) secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke; (2) exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer; (3) there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; and (4) establishing smoke free workplaces is the only effective way to ensure that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur in the workplace.
Breathing the smoke from the tip of someone else’s cigarette or exhaled by a smoker has the same harmful, cancer-causing parts of the smoke inhaled by smokers. Nonsmokers are put at the same risk of smokers when exposed to this secondhand smoke.

Breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer. Most of the 20 million smoking-related deaths since 1964 have been adults with a history of smoking; however, 2.5 million of those deaths have been among nonsmokers who died from diseases caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.
In WV, secondhand smoke is responsible for 410 deaths a year and $30.4 million in healthcare expenditures – all due to the involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke.

University Healthcare Berkeley Medical Center is committed to fulfilling its mission of improving the health status of Eastern Panhandle residents. As of July 1, 2014, Berkeley Medical Center will be going tobacco-free on all of our campuses to be in compliance with the Berkeley County Health Department’s Clean Air Regulation.

Berkeley Medical Center also recognizes, as the leading healthcare provider in the area, becoming tobacco free is the right thing to do to promote healthier lifestyle choices and to reduce the risk of tobacco use.

As the premier regional healthcare system in our community, University Healthcare has a responsibility to take a leadership role in 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.

The regulation includes the entire hospital campus, as well as clinics owned and operated by University Healthcare in Berkeley County. This includes MOB3, across the street from Berkeley Medical Center, and the Inwood Medical Building campus in South Berkeley County.

Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, e-cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco of any kind. All employees, members of the medical staff, volunteers, students, patients, visitors, vendors, contractors and all other persons are expected to comply with this policy.

The Clean Air Regulation is not an attempt to force anyone to quit smoking but rather a concrete way our community can demonstrate an ongoing commitment to healthy living. For those interested in going tobacco free, here are some resources:

• University Healthcare is offering the American Cancer Society’s Freshstart Smoking Cessation classes at Berkeley Medical Center for free and open to the public. Classes are scheduled to begin July 22 and September 18. Call 264-1287, ext. 31814 or e-mail ddejarnett@wvuhealthcare.com for more information.
• WV offers a Tobacco Quitline at 1-877-966-8784 or www.ynotquit.com, which provides educational materials, phone coaching and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (level of service dependent on eligibility). 
• Online resources offered by American Lung Association at www.ffsonline.org, American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org, and National Cancer Institute at www.smokefree.gov. 
• Other helpful sites include www.whyquit.com, www.quitnet.com, www.bobquits.com, www.becomeanex.org, www.tobaccofreekids.org.

University Healthcare is committed to the health of our community. Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in our society. We appreciate your support and cooperation with our policy for totally tobacco free campuses.