Press Release

Burgess To Institute Tobacco Free Campus

Burgess Health Center is joining hospitals across Iowa and Nebraska in making its outside grounds tobacco-free effective Nov. 16.

This means smoking or other tobacco use will no longer be allowed as it has been in designated areas outside the hospital, its physicians’ clinics or pharmacies. The policy will affect employees, patients, family members, visitors, construction workers and customers at Burgess and its other facilities.

In approving the policy to become tobacco free, the Burgess Board of Directors is following the footsteps of hospitals north and south of Onawa on the I-29 corridor. Fourteen hospitals in Omaha and surrounding communities have joined forces to go tobacco-free the same day as Burgess. Sioux City’s two hospitals, cancer center and community health center went tobacco-free last January. Dozens of Iowa hospitals have instituted tobacco-free campus policies, following an endorsement by the Iowa Hospital Association.

Earlier this summer the Surgeon General delivered a 670-page study calling second-hand smoke a serious health hazard that leads to disease and premature death in children and non-smoking adults. "Second hand smoke kills people," stated Surgeon General Richard Carmona. The study reported that second-hand smoke causes lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

“With the Surgeon General’s report and recommendation by the Iowa Hospital Association our board is fully committed to making Burgess a tobacco-free campus effective November 16, which is the day of the Great American Smoke-out,” says Fran Tramp, Burgess President. “The facts are indisputable that smoking and tobacco products are harmful to the health of smokers and those around them. We have a responsibility to make Burgess a safer, healthier environment for our employees, patients and visitors.”

Burgess plans to offer quit smoking classes to employees and the public to help those interested get ready for the tobacco free policy, according to Claudia Boss, nurse educator.
Burgess is sending several employees to stop smoking training classes to help prepare for presentation of programs in Onawa.

“We want to help people make the transition as easy as possible,” says Boss. “Staff and physicians will assist patients to not smoke by having alternatives available while they are hospitalized. We will also have hard candy available for visitors throughout the facility.”

“The hospital has been a smoke-free building for years,” says Sandy Leggett, hospital COO. “We’re just taking it a step further to become tobacco-free on hospital grounds, which prohibits persons from smoking at entrances or outdoor bench areas.”

For more information, persons are welcome to call Burgess at 423-9354.