Russellville Hospital will be tobacco free beginning Dec. 17.
As of that date, no tobacco use of any kind will be permitted inside or outside on hospital property.
While all of our hospital buildings are currently smoke-free, the anticipated change will make the entire campus tobacco-free, both inside and outside.
This initiative includes the elimination of all designated areas outside Russellville Hospital where employees, patients and visitors currently use tobacco products.
Russellville Hospital has joined national and state efforts to reduce the negative health effects of tobacco use on the community.
More than 8,000 people die every year in Alabama due to tobacco-related diseases.  Tobacco use in and around hospitals poses health and safety risks for patients, employees and visitors.
Russellville Hospital CEO Christine Stewart stated “the tobacco-free initiative is a concrete way we can demonstrate our ongoing commitment to healthy living.”
For those patients who are smokers, the hospital will work closely with their physicians to promote prescribing nicotine replacement therapy during their hospital stay to assist them as needed in the tobacco-free environment.
“We are asking for community support in Russellville Hospital’s tobacco-free initiative as we move toward a healthier hospital environment on December 17th,” concluded Stewart.