Tim Omarzu/Advance Don’t light up at Novato Community Hospital campus. Hospital spokeswoman Mary Strebig displays a no-smoking sign in front of an outdoor smoking hut in the north parking lot that’s due to be removed Thursday.

Starting Thursday, smoking will be forbidden on the campus of the Novato Community Hospital.

The hospital timed its smoking ban to coincide with the day of the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout.

The ban applies to the hospital’s entire campus, which includes two office buildings near the hospital itself.

“When you drive across the bridge, you’ve entered a smoke-free (zone),” said hospital spokeswoman Mary Strebig. Smoking will even be forbidden inside vehicles.

The idea to snuff out smoking at the hospital came from Chief Administrative Officer Anne Hosfeld. Smoke-free hospitals are a growing trend, Strebig said. It’s something that’s recommended by the commission that accredits hospitals, she said.

“We don’t see doctors smoking anymore. We have very few employees who smoke,” Strebig said.

A former bus shelter used as a “smoking hut” in the hospital’s north parking lot is being dismantled and given to a contractor who will use it as an aviary.

source: http://www.marinscope.com

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