It is now tougher to take smoke breaks at Columbia’s medical campus. Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) officially became a smoke-free campus on Aug. 10, meaning employees, faculty, students and visitors are no longer allowed to smoke within 30 feet of any University building. That includes CUMC building entrances, doorways, courtyards, grounds, gardens, parking facilities, school-owned vehicles, dormitories and residences.

 

CUMC is home to research centers that produce studies on secondhand smoke, diseases related to smoking and nicotine dependence. “We’re a world-class health institution,” said Rosemary Keane, CUMC’s chief communications officer. “All four schools have faculty who publish research on the negative impact of smoking. We consider it our responsibility to cultivate a healthful environment on our medical campus.”

 

The interior spaces at the medical campus have long been smoke-free, but in instituting this wider ban, Columbia joins a growing list of academic hospitals that are eliminating this particular health hazard. Enforcement of the no-smoking rule will be courteous but firm, and everyone at the facility is asked to join in the campaign. “The emphasis is going to be on asking people politely to not smoke,” said Keane, “and on offering suggestions about smoking cessation resources.”

 

Banners and signage throughout the campus spell out the new rule. Lisa Hogarty, CUMC’s chief operating officer, has sent messages on the subject to all medical center faculty, staff and students. She’s joined in the effort by Columbia affiliate NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, which also banned smoking on its premises, effective Aug. 10.

 

Other Columbia campuses also have no-smoking policies, but they are not as comprehensive as CUMC’s. For instance, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed work areas and outdoor eating spaces at the Morningside campus, but not on College Walk. New York City banned smoking in all restaurants and bars in 2003. CUMC’s new policy is outlined on a new website, Smoke-Free CUMC, Inside and Out! www.cumc.columbia.edu/smokeFree, which includes links to studies and articles on smoking and also provides smoking cessation resources for those who may want to quit.

 

“While we want to be sensitive to the smoker, the real focus is to ensure a smoke-free campus,” said Kathleen Crowley, the University’s associate vice president of environmental health and safety. Crowley was part of the committee that crafted the new policy, and she understands that the switch to a smoke-free campus is a big cultural shift for some people. But, she added, “When you visit your health care provider or patient at CUMC, you don’t want to have to walk through a smoking chamber.”