Mass. Hospital Association to Stop Hiring Tobacco Users

The Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) will stop hiring people who use tobacco as of January 1, The Daily Item reported Nov. 9.

The new policy will not apply to MHA's existing employees. “The goal of our organization is to heal people. I care about my workforce very much and I want them to be healthy,” said Lynn Nicholas, MHA's president and CEO.

Nicholas added that tobacco-related health problems cost Massachusetts six billion dollars a year, and 8,000 people die there annually from tobacco-related illnesses. She said, “I think people forget about the statistics. If this [policy] can save lives and reduce the number of patients in our hospitals who are there directly or indirectly because of tobacco, that would be significant.”

The new hiring rule will serve as a model for hospitals and health care facilities that are members of the MHA. However, member organizations North Shore Medical Center and Hallmark Health have no plans to follow suit at this time. Both already prohibit tobacco use on site by staff, patients, and visitors — a position also taken recently by the New London Hospital in New Hampshire.

North Shore Community College student John Jones, who works at BayRidge Hospital, thought the MHA's plan was “drastic.”

“I don’t think the fact that you smoke should have any effect on getting a job, especially during these tough economic times,” he said. “People are having enough trouble finding jobs and something like this is just going to make matters worse.”