Geraldton District Hospital to go Smoke-Free Next Year

Geraldton District Hospital to go Smoke-Free Next Year

January 1, 2018

As of January 1, 2018, smokers will have to make their way off the hospital property if they want to smoke. It will be difficult to implement but the hospital has been planning for it the last two years. Signs have been removed, ashtrays moved and currently only one designated area to smoke is available.

Smoking will be prohibited anywhere on hospital property and all designated smoking areas will be removed. That means that patients, volunteers, staff and visitors will have to leave hospital property if they want to smoke.

It is going to create some implementation issues and some difficulties because the way it's set up now for those who do smoke and have maybe tried to stop but can't there is a segregated area for them. But this will stop come January as per the new laws.

Having smokers move off hospital property will create a headache for all concerned, but the hospital can't stop where smokers go once off the property. Currently, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act allows for one designated smoking area for every hospital in Ontario, however, those will be removed in the new year. We have no ability to even stop that because come January 1 there will be no designated smoking area.

GDH has offered smoking cessation programs for patients who are struggling to quit. But for those who have been smoking for years have said the new rules won't make them stop smoking – they’ll just smoke in public areas.

There is no question that for many of our patients and residents in the Long-Term Care wing of the hospital, this will have a difficult time of it, but we do have to follow what the laws say we must do, as per the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.

This will come into effect at the Geraldton District Hospital, the Northern Horizon Health Centre (which is based on hospital property) and the Nakina Clinic, located in Nakina.