A Healthy and Smoke-Free Environment at Sunnybrook: Effective April 1, 2007

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre adopted a smoke-free policy this week that prohibits smoking on all hospital grounds. In support of a healthier environment and in collaboration with Ontario law, all Sunnybrook property has been declared smoke-free.

This policy applies to all staff, physicians, volunteers, students, visitors and patients that are within the boundaries of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, including the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in downtown Toronto.

“As a hospital, our business is healthcare and that involves treating and preventing disease and we know that one of the best moves you can make to improve your health is to stop smoking,” says Michael Young, Sunnybrook Executive Vice President Corporate. “We surveyed our staff to see what their reaction would be to this move and the overwhelming majority of people supported our decision to make the hospital a smoke-free environment. We do however have some smokers on staff and we have been offering smoking cessation programs for them for the past few months. This is going to be a change for some people but a change for the better.”

Sunnybrook is one of a growing number of Ontario hospitals that have elected to go smoke-free including Credit Valley Hospital, Kingston General Hospital, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton and CAMH, among others.

“As one of Canada’s leading academic Health Sciences Centres, this is the right thing to do,” says Dr. Linda Rabeneck, Program Chief of the Odette Cancer Centre (TSRCC). “The Cancer program brought this idea forward to the hospital’s leadership team and they supported it without hesitation. In addition to being a known carcinogen, tobacco smoke contributes to a number of serious illnesses including cardiovascular disease, emphysema and other respiratory conditions. It’s simply not healthy and by going smoke-free, Sunnybrook is proud to take a leadership role in preventing disease and promoting good health.”
 
Nicotine replacement therapy will be available to admitted Sunnybrook patients and there are also certified smoking-cessation counselors available for Sunnybrook staff.