GBMC Plans A Healthy New Year’s Resolution:
A Smoke-Free Campus  

BALTIMORE – December 16, 2005 – In keeping with its commitment to providing medical care and service of the highest quality, and as a major provider of healthcare in the community, Greater Baltimore Medical Center will be a smoke-free campus as of Jan. 1, 2006.

“This demonstrates our concern for every individual’s health and underscores our commitment for a healthier community,” said Laurence M. Merlis, GBMC’s president and chief executive officer, noting smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

Effective January 1, 2006, the use of any tobacco products will not be permitted on the grounds of the hospital, except for use in personal vehicles. The restriction expands GBMC’s current policy under state law of prohibiting smoking inside buildings. Previously designated outdoor smoking areas are being eliminated to afford protection from the dangers of second-hand smoke. 

“Our goal is to provide a healthier environment for our patients, visitors, staff and volunteers and to care for patients in a smoke-free facility and campus,” Merlis said.  GBMC joins a trend of smoke-free hospital campuses nationwide, and is one of several in Maryland (Frederick Memorial Hospital, Upper Chesapeake Health and Western Maryland Health System) to restrict smoking.

A committee of two-dozen GBMC clinical and non-clinical staff members, smokers and non-smokers, met monthly throughout 2005 to evaluate the hospital’s smoking policy, and GBMC’s medical board voted unanimously in favor of the change.

To assist employees, visitors and community members who may wish to stop smoking, GBMC will continue offering its popular free cessation classes, and will provide nicotine replacement therapy (gum) on a limited basis.

About GBMC
GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital; Hospice of Baltimore, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Community Health Center, which offers comprehensive health and family services to the residents of East Baltimore; and the GBMC Foundation, which supports the GBMC mission by managing fundraising efforts.  The 300-bed Medical Center, located on a beautiful suburban campus, serves nearly 22,000 inpatients annually and provides approximately 50,000 emergency room visits. For more information, go to www.gbmc.org.

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