Implementing this initiative was not an impulsive decision. A task force of more than 40 representatives from the university, and the hospitals and clinics worked for nearly a year to lay out a plan for a smooth transition to a tobacco-free environment. Internal audiences, and hospital patients and visitors were surveyed, similar organizations that have implemented tobacco-free policies were asked to share their experiences and plans are being laid to support those faced with the challenges of fighting their addiction.

As Georgia’s only health sciences university and the CSRA’s only academic medical center, our mission is to improve health and reduce the burden of illness in society. By undertaking this initiative, we join numerous educational and health care facilities across the state and nation in protecting our employees, patients and visitors from exposure to secondhand smoke. This is an important step in fulfilling our role as a health care leader in Georgia.

The MCG School of Nursing Faculty Practice Group will offer tobacco cessation counseling to employees. The MCG Health, Inc. group health insurance plan will cover the cost of tobacco cessation counseling and medications for MCGHI and Physicians Practice Group employees who are plan participants and their covered family members. The series of counseling sessions will be covered once annually. After three months, participants will pay the formulary co-pay amount of $30/month for covered prescription medications. The covered MCGHI employee or family member who successfully completes the tobacco cessation program will also receive a free three-month membership to the MCG Wellness Center. For information on the tobacco cessation program, contact the MCG School of Nursing at 706-721-8224.

There are many benefits to quitting smoking:

• Twenty minutes after quitting: Your blood pressure drops to a level close to that before the last cigarette. The temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.
    
• Eight hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. 
    
• Twenty-four hours after quitting: Your chance of a heart attack decreases.
     
• Two weeks to three months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases up to 30 percent.
     
• One to nine months after quitting: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease. Cilia regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs and reduce infection.
    
• One year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s. 
    
• Five years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker.
    
• Ten years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker’s. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease.
     
• Fifteen years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker’s.

 Benefits of Quitting Smoking