They are the champions!
The recipients of the 2013 VCH Smoke-Free Excellence Award are the Vancouver Acute directors for their leadership, commitment and tenacity in implementing a successful Smoke-Free Premises Policy Campaign at Vancouver General Hospital.
Led by Vivian Eliopoulous, Goldie Luong, and Wayne Balshin, the goals of the campaign were to increase staff awareness of the policy, reduce smoking on site, and support staff to cut down or quit smoking while on shift.
They achieved this by;
- increasing signage of the policy on site (elevator posters, sandwich boards, smoke detector alarms);
- engaging staff through meetings;
- developing a promotional video;
- and enforcing the policy through regular walkabouts with human resources advisors.
The evaluation results indicate a 24% decrease in staff smoking on site and an 83% reduction in complaints!
Success is also attributed to continued support from partners Aramark, Paladin Security, Facilities and Maintenance and Communications & Public Affairs. The model is being adapted for other hospitals across VCH and has been shared with other health authorities in B.C. and across Canada.
Photo: The Smoke-Free Excellence Award was presented by Medical Health Officer Dr. Meena Dawar (at right) to Vivian Eliopoulos (at left) at the VCH Tobacco Reduction Program’s Tobacco Addiction Withdrawal Management Course (TAWM) held in November. TAWM is a two day introductory course in tobacco cessation that more than 50 VCH employees took part in this year.
Main photo (left to right): Kerri Berryman, Monica McAlduff, Steve Kabanuk, Goldie Luong, Leighanne MacKenzie, Cori Ross, Andrea Bisaillon, Michelle de Moor, and Vivian Eliopoulos. Missing from photo is: Mary Nieforth and Susan Seeman.