South Miami Hospital will become a completely tobacco-free campus on May 31, 2008, joining a growing number of hospitals across the country that ban smoking anywhere on hospital grounds. All forms of tobacco use will be prohibited in all parts of the campus, including outdoor areas.
The new policy aims to create a safer, more pleasant and healthful environment. “As a healthcare organization, we have a special responsibility to offer a clean and healthy environment for our co-workers, physicians, visitors, vendors and, most of all, the people whose lives we profoundly touch – our patients,” said Javier Hernandez-Lichtl, CEO of South Miami Hospital. “We believe that one of the strongest statements we can make about how seriously we take our mission of promoting good health is to become a tobacco-free campus.”
