By Dick Yarmy

Heather Branin, an expectant mother, sat in a wheelchair outside the property lines of UK Hospital and balanced a chocolate drink, a pack of Marlboros and a cigarette lighter in her hands. Because of a new tobacco-free initiative, she has to go beyond hospital property to smoke, but the distance doesn’t stop her from taking a cigarette break.

“My aunt likes the rules, because she wants me to quit,” Branin said, “but I’m ready to sign out … I’m supposed to be here until I have my baby, but I don’t know if I can take it.”

As of Nov. 20, UK Hospital was declared a tobacco-free campus. All designated smoking areas were eliminated on hospital property. But some hospital employees are concerned about how far away from the medical buildings the smoke-free rule takes them.

Some nurses who smoke are concerned about being outside on the corner if a crisis would occur at their stations.

“If we were inside in our old lounge and a code was called, we’d be there immediately,” said nurse Tanya Burns, “but from out here it could be five minutes before we got there.”

Burns said going off campus to smoke reduced efficiency by extending breaks and keeping employees off the job longer.

Despite working in health care, a business that frowns upon the health risks associated with tobacco products, nurse Robin Arvin said smoking is a habit that keeps her calm in a demanding job.

“I need a break to do this type of work,” said Arvin. “I never smoked before nursing school. The job is stressful.”

Joyce Hurst, a medical technician, was more concerned with the tone of the new regulations rather than with the purpose.

“I know smoking is bad for me, health wise, but I don’t want the administration telling me what to do,” Hurst said. “They put us on display out here. It seems disrespectful.”

The plan for a tobacco-free campus was announced nearly a year ago, said Associate Vice President for Health Affairs Murray Clark. He said employees have had plenty of time to prepare for this change and he thinks the transition is going smoothly.

“We were very surprised, it’s almost a non-issue,” Murray said. “We have had a very good response and good cooperation.”

Clark said in the few encounters he has had with patients and visitors smoking on hospital property, he has simply explained the new policy and they willingly moved. He said he has not heard any complaints from employees as of yet. As to how far they have to walk to smoke on their break, Clark said that is their personal choice.

“(Employees) can use their break time how they choose,” he said. “Do they get extended time to smoke? No. It is up to an employee how to use their time.”

Some hospital employees also felt there was a hierarchy of privileges when it comes to smoking.

“I’d guess that 80 percent of the smokers in this hospital are doctors,” said Alborz Kalantar, a desktop support employee. “But I don’t see any of them out here on the street. I wonder where they’re smoking.”

“Doctors are smoking somewhere,” Burns said.

“I know the (Physical Plant Department) are smoking in their closets,” Kalantar said. “And I’ve seen security workers smoking inside the line.”

Murray said if an employee refused to move or continually smoked inside the property lines of the hospital, that situation would be managed like any other violation of hospital policy.

Some patients said no matter where the hospital makes them go to smoke, it wouldn’t make them kick the habit.

In temperatures below forty degrees, Amanda Mullins stood on a street corner outside the hospital dressed in a T-shirt and jeans.

“I’ve been a patient (on and off) for three years and I had no idea the rules had changed,” she said. “I’ve got emphysema, but it doesn’t make much difference to me. I have to have a cigarette. I’m checking out of here as soon as I can.”

Teresa Atkinson, the mother of a patient in UK Hospital, said she couldn’t understand the reason for the new rules.

“This is the tobacco state, isn’t it?” she said. “Where I come from, you can smoke anywhere.”

Having to walk outside the hospital limits at night to smoke also poses a safety threat, Atkinson said.

“The nurses say it isn’t safe out here on Limestone, at least not after dark,” she said. “They also say if you’re caught smoking, you’ll be asked to leave the hospital. Where would I go? My daughter’s in there.”