All Lancaster General Facilities to go Tobacco-Free in 2008
Lancaster General recently unveiled BreatheWell, a comprehensive tobacco-free initiative designed to improve the health of LG employees and all who visit the health system’s facilities. BreatheWell encompasses a variety of smoking cessation programs (
Click here for a list of Freedom from Smoking Classes) that are designed to help employees and community members quit smoking. LG launched the initiative by announcing that tobacco use will be prohibited at all of its owned and leased facilities starting Jan. 1, 2008.
“As the county’s leading healthcare provider that treats the adverse health effects of tobacco-use, we view our BreatheWell campaign as our obligation and our opportunity to create a healthier environment for the thousands of patients, employees, caregivers and visitors who come to our facilities each year,” said Tom Beeman, LG President & CEO.
Based on the recommendations of a committee of LG employees that included smokers and non-smokers, the tobacco-free policy will affect not only LG employees, but all patients, visitors, physicians, students and vendors who work at or visit LG properties. LG joined the county’s hospitals and the American Lung Association about a year ago to discuss going tobacco-free, at the request of the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Lancaster County. The group continues to meet regularly. One county hospital will go tobacco-free on Aug. 1; LG and another healthcare provider will do so in Jan. 2008.