St. Joseph's, other hospitals stamping out tobacco use

The era of a smoke break will soon be over at several area hospitals, including St. Joseph's in Tampa and South Florida Baptist in Plant City.

Most of the facilities that are part of BayCare Health System are going tobacco free on Saturday. Sister hospitals Morton Plant, Mease Countryside and Mease Dunedin follow suit two days later.

This means that smoking and other tobacco use will not be allowed at any BayCare facility by employees, physicians, patients, volunteers, visitors or vendors. There were previously smoking areas on the campuses, but they will be removed, said Stephanie Sampiere, communications manager for BayCare.

Other hospitals in the network going tobacco free include St. Anthony's, St. Joseph's Women's and St. Joseph's Children's.

All BayCare non-hospital facilities such as BayCare HomeCare, BayCare Behavioral Health and BayCare Outpatient and Imaging Centers will also be tobacco-free.

The other two BayCare hospitals, Morton Plant North Bay and St. Joseph's Hospital-North, are already tobacco-free.

"By choosing to be tobacco-free, we are working to create a healthier environment for our team members and our entire community," Steve Mason, BayCare Health System president and CEO, said in a statement. "This is an important initiative that reflects our efforts to be both an excellent place to work and to receive health care."

Signs are being updated to reflect the shift to tobacco-free.

BayCare facilities offer freedom from smoking classes for the public for a nominal fee and to its team members at no cost.

For information about the classes, call (727) 253-4228.

BayCare employees who were tobacco-free before completing benefits open enrollment also will receive a discount on their 2011 medical plan premiums.

Establishing tobacco-free campuses "allows us to lead by example and demonstrate good health practices for our community," said physician Mark Vaaler, vice president of medical affairs for St. Joseph's and South Florida Baptist Hospitals. "Our patients expect us to provide them with a healthy environment so by eliminating tobacco from our campuses; we are able to offer a more comfortable healing environment."

Tampa General Hospital recently announced it was going tobacco-free on Monday.