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Published on: 3/1/2007
Last Visited: 3/1/2007
At Baystate, the decision to go smoke-free is part of a broader strategic planning initiative called the ,Culture of Health,' which, as the name suggests, is devoted to improving the overall health of those served by the system, said its CEO, Mark Tolosky.
"We thought that an integral part of that was the health of our own employees and their families," he explained."We believed that, as a progressive employer and, particularly, being a health care leader, there were some things that we could do better and differently, and one was showing leadership in creating a smoke-free work environment."
Thorough research on the subject led the team charting Baystate's course to choose a two-step process, he continued, adding that he expects the final phase will go as smoothly as the first, which limited smoking to one area at each site and prohibited smoking on paid time, because of the tremendous amount of thought and study that went into the initiative.
"We looked at multiple options, with the goal of being fair to our staff, fair to visitors, and fair to our organization, while making a real statement about being a leader in health," Tolosky said, adding that he now hopes Baystate's example might inspire others , in the health care community and outside it , to take a similar route.
"There are a number of reasons why people may not want to embark on this journey," he continued.
...
After Marie Brown's success story was published in one of Baystate's in-house publications, Connections, Tolosky walked down two flights at the system's corporate offices on Chestnut Street in Springfield to pay her a visit.
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