Snuffed out
Starting this morning, there will be no shivering smokers outside the Alaska Native Medical Center.
The organizations that run the hospital and surrounding medical buildings have a new, super-strict tobacco ban: No one can smoke or chew on hospital property, including inside cars. It's likely the biggest employee health effort of its kind in Alaska.
The ban at two of the state's largest private employers, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southcentral Foundation, covers more than 3,300 employees at 22 buildings in Anchorage and across the state. The hospital and nearby clinics see some 600,000 patient visits a year. Patients often come from outside Anchorage and travel with family.
Other big employers are watching. Providence Alaska Medical Center and Alaska Regional Hospital are considering following suit, representatives said. The goal at the Native medical center isn't just to clear the air. It's to get employees and patients to quit smoking and chewing, said Don Kashevaroff, board chairman and president of the health consortium. . . .
Research suggests that more than half of Alaska Native adults smoke or chew, according to Caroline Cremo Renner, nicotine research and control program manager with the health consortium. That's more than any other ethnic group in the country. In some places in the state, tobacco use is even more prevalent.
