STEPHENS CO. HOSPITAL TOBACCO-FREE POLICY WORKING WELL
APRIL 25, 2008

Officials at Stephens County Hospital say the tobacco-free policy is going well. At Monday’s Stephens County Hospital Authority meeting, Safety Director Tony Knox answered a question from the Authority on how people at the hospital were adjusting to the tobacco-free policy.

Knox says it is going well to this point. "At the beginning, there was some we had to ask and you do still see them from time to time, but I think it is getting better," says Knox. "Some of them still go to their cars and smoke." Knox says people no longer smoke in front of the building as they did before the policy.
Stephens County Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell also says the policy is working out well. He says when people are found smoking; they are just given a reminder of the tobacco-free policy in place. The policy took effect at the start of this year. Gambrell says it was done to set a healthier example and to keep people from having to walk through smoke to enter the hospital.