Hospitals to ban smoking outside Sofia Kosmetatos / The Detroit News Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Beginning Sunday, five major health systems in Metro Detroit will ban smoking and the use of tobacco products on their campuses. Visitors, patients and employees will not be able to smoke anywhere on the campuses of the Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, Oakwood Healthcare System, St. John Health and Beaumont Hospitals. The effort is part of a statewide initiative by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association to make all hospitals smoke-free by 2008. More than 30 of the association's 146 member hospitals have gone smoke-free, and 82 have committed to do so by January. Though hospitals have been smoke-free indoors since the 1990s, many continued to allow smoking outdoors in designated areas. Each health care system is offering a variety of smoking cessation support programs for patients, employees and, in some cases, employees' family members. At Oakwood Healthcare System, for example, employees can get a $150 coupon to use toward smoking cessation tools such as patches and gums, and even co-payments on prescription drugs to help quit. Others, including Henry Ford, are offering smoking cessation help for free. Gary Gotts, 50, used Oakwood's coupon to buy patches. The manager of security at Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor has been smoking for more than 25 years, but sees Oakwood's new policy as a good incentive to quit. The bigger challenge, he said, will be enforcing the ban with visitors. New signs and simply asking people to stop should help in most cases. Those who don't comply will be asked to leave the property. You can reach Sofia Kosmetatos at (313) 222-2401 or skosmetatos@detnews.com