Recently, UK Healthcare imposed a ban on smoking and eliminated the designated smoking areas off of hospital property. This is a positive and forward-thinking move that will undoubtedly help with the air quality and the overall cleanliness of the hospital campus.

However, as reported in last Thursday’s Kernel, the tenor of the effected may not be so positive. Several hospital staff and patients expressed their dismay with the new rules set in place by hospital administration for placing this ban. While it is their right to be upset, their complaints have a limited amount of validity. Simply put, smoking has been proven to negatively affect the health of the smoker and those who are in proximity of smoke, and the last place it needs to be is at a place where people go when they are of ill health.

People who work at the hospital are there to save lives. Yes, they need to be relaxed, but they also must recognize that they are employed to serve the needs of the hospital patients who make it possible for them to have jobs. When you serve, you make sacrifices, which may mean walking a little bit for a smoke break. In this case, hospital administration has to look out for the well-being of the non-smoking population that works at or visits the hospital.

With a new law in place, there surely will be people to break it. Because of this, the administration must take a deeper look into the violations. The Kernel article referenced observer reports of violations of both the imposed ban lines and the city indoor smoking bans, neither of which is acceptable. Some of the very doctors out to save lives, and the security that are supposed to enforce these rules of the hospital, were implicated. Also, who is enforcing the rules if security is partaking in the illegal behavior?

Clearly, smokers are going to smoke and, as a deterrent, the ban is merely making smoking a hassle, but not a big enough inconvenience to reevaluate the lifestyle. Driving down South Limestone, that is made evident. Any given day, you’ll see patients and staff standing on the sidewalk by the road smoking at UK Hospital. What a great first campus impression that makes.

Before this smoking ban can truly succeed, the visions and goals of all parties must be aligned. Smokers must recognize the health benefits non-smokers receive and respect that, and administration must find ways to enforce the rules in a fair and consistent manner without alienating people who have different lifestyles.

While the ideal goal would be to eliminate tobacco use all together, the truth is that will never happen— especially not in the state of Kentucky. The state and its economy is much too dependent on tobacco and the money it brings.

Essentially, the ban will only help attempt to achieve a cleaner hospital environment and not much else. People will go to any lengths necessary in order to get their nicotine fix, whether it be walking 20 feet from a door or 500 feet to get off hospital property.