Beginning Saturday, July 1, smoking is not allowed anywhere (inside or outside) on the UI Hospitals and Clinics campus, including Hospital Parking Ramps 1, 2, 3 and 4. (UI Hospitals and Clinics Map / Smoke-free Area Outlined)

UI Hospitals and Clinics has been smoke free inside its buildings since the early 1990s. Prohibiting smoking outdoors on the campus will eliminate secondhand smoke exposure to individuals entering and exiting the hospital. Recent research suggests that secondhand smoke exposure, even when experienced outdoors, is more dangerous than previously believed. Secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in adult non-smokers in the United States each year.

UI Hospitals and Clinics faculty and staff will assist hospitalized patients to assess their tobacco use and establish a plan for assistance during their hospital stay.

Patients with clinical appointments began receiving information about the new smoking policy with their appointment confirmation letters on June 5, 2006. Patients who would like to use nicotine replacement therapy while on campus should plan to bring their own supply, or they may purchase gum or lozenges at the Ambulatory Care Pharmacies on Level 1 of General Hospital or on Level 2 of the Pomerantz Family Pavilion.

Visitors should plan to use nicotine replacement therapy while on the campus, or leave UI Hospitals and Clinics property to smoke.

UI Hospitals and Clinics adopted the smoke-free policy following a call from the Iowa Hospital Association to its members to prohibit smoking on their campuses across the state. Hospitals in Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Des Moines, Waterloo, and the Quad Cities already have adopted smoke-free campus policies or plan to do so in the near future.

In addition, health care centers in communities across the United States, including St. Louis, Mo., and LaCrosse, Wis., also prohibit smoking on their campuses.

For more information:

Health Care Today/KXIC