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UPMC: Two years smoke-free

Ahead of the curve toward a smoke-free, healthier workforce

A cigarette is a cigarette is a cigarette…
Recently, a new product — the e-cigarette — has been showing up in areas where smoking is prohibited. These devices, which look like regular cigarettes, are electronic nicotine vaporizers that make their own "smoke" by vaporizing propylene glycol. Like traditional nicotine products, use of e-cigarettes on UPMC premises is strictly prohibited.

On July 1, 2007, UPMC instituted its smoke-free campus policy at all of its buildings and grounds — more than a full year before Pennsylvania enacted its statewide ban on smoking in September 2008.

Our decision to pursue a smoke-free environment was not reliant upon legislation — it is just the right thing to do. It is also a growing trend among hospitals nationwide to be completely smoke-free and to eliminate designated smoking areas. It’s no secret that smoking causes heart disease, lung and other cancers, chronic lung disease, and even premature death. As the region’s top health care system, UPMC must support an environment that promotes good health. Allowing smoking on our campuses, even in designated areas, is not consistent with that commitment.

Challenges and opportunities
Over the past two years, UPMC has faced some challenges in maintaining a smoke-free environment. One of our biggest problems occurs when smokers are restricted from lighting up on our premises and then they litter and loiter in other spaces. We are continually challenged to be good neighbors and help keep our environment clean and smoke-free.

UPMC employees have a big advantage when it comes to kicking the smoking habit. Although our smoke-free policy creates a healthier workplace, UPMC has taken other steps to help make it easier to quit, such as offering smoking cessation classes, counseling services, and wellness coaching through UPMC Health Plan (see call-out box below ). More than 2,000 employees took advantage of those resources and, according to the MyHealth questionnaire, at least 870 staff members did quit.

Ready to Quit™?
Available at no cost to UPMC Health Plan members and their adult dependents, the MyHealth Ready to Quit program offers a variety of smoking cessation resources, including health coaching sessions with a tobacco cessation specialist via telephone or face-to-face, a self-study workbook, and online reference materials. To enroll in the Ready to Quit program, call 1-800-807-0751.

Envisioning a healthy workforce

In the months before and the years following implementation of UPMC’s smoke-free campus policy, large numbers of employees took UPMC’s vision for a healthier workforce to heart and took steps to quit smoking — many of them making use of services provided through UPMC Health Plan.

Cindy Olack, a medical secretary at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and a smoker for more than 30 years, didn’t need anyone to tell her why to quit smoking. The question was, “How?”

For Cindy, the answers were a phone call away. UPMC Health Plan offers a mix of support, planning, and possibly medication to help you quit for good, no matter how many times you've tried to quit in the past. These services are available at no cost to UPMC Health Plan members and to their adult dependents. Call the MyHealth Ready to Quit line at 1-800-807-0751 to learn more.

“I knew the only way to quit would be on my own terms,” she says, and that’s just how she did it. She believed that nicotine patches would give her the help she needed to stop smoking for good. Ms. Olack contacted a MyHealth wellness coach and received a copayment waiver for the patches, and counseling by telephone for smoking cessation.

One year after deciding to kick the habit, Ms. Olack is still smoke-free. “I will not go back,” she says with conviction. She joins her many co-workers who have quit smoking since 2006, reducing the prevalence of smoking by UPMC employees by 27 percent. All who quit are breathing easier.

As the region’s premier health system, we’ve been ahead of the curve in setting an example for smokers who are ready to put out their cigarettes and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Could this be your year to finally become smoke-free?