November 20th is the yearly event called the "Great American Smoke Out Day" where smokers nationwide are encouraged to make the choice to stop.

It's not just individuals who are taking the stand for a healthier lifestyle, so are area healthcare providers.

This announcement is coming with mixed feelings. The employees have known about this happening for months, but it will take some time to get patients and their families educated on the new rule, says Carrie Massey, EIRMC's Respiratory Therapy Manager. She is concerned about the number of people who still smoke, despite the damage it causes. 

Carrie Massey: "So each year in the U.S. 138 thousand people die from smoking and it is the number one preventable disease in America and we still continue to smoke."

This was the day that many area health care providers had their facilities go tobacco-free, including Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. A decision that hospital COO Jordan Herget says was the right choice by setting an example.

Jordan Herget: "Really it supports our health care mission, which is to improve the lives of those we touch, and tobacco use is a big factor in a lot of diseases and so we really felt it supported our health care mission."

In a symbolic move, a covered structure called the "Butt Hut" where the hospital staff would come and smoke, was permanently removed from the hospital grounds. It will now be used by patients at the Behavioral Health Center, the only EIRMC facility where smoking will be allowed.

Signs are in place to inform everyone of the new rules and the containers to hold the cigarette butts are a thing of the past.

Jordan Herget: "The rule is no by anyone here, employees, visitors, physicians, patients, no tobacco use at all on our campus and so that includes smoking, chew, any tobacco products all the way out to our sidewalks."

As many as 15 percent of the hospital staff are smokers. When this move was announced, the hospital offered stop smoking classes to its employees and says many decided to quit.

Carrie Massey: "So we don't smoke, we don't smell like smoke when we come to take care of you in your room and we adopted it and we hope that our patients and our families will adopt it."

Jordan Herget: "On the other hand, we do want to be sensitive, tobacco users, we don't want to single them out or you know, make this an us against them type proposition; we're not asking them to quit but many people have used it as a reason to quit."

EIRMC and the health department offer free stop smoking classes to help anyone kick the habit. When you are ready to quit, they are here to help. Contact EIRMC or your local health department for more information on classes.