Meryia Pake of Coos Bay takes a smoke break outside Bay Area Hospital on Monday. Although she is trying to quit, Pake thinks the hospital’s plan to ban tobacco products on its property unfairly discriminates against smokers.

COOS BAY — Bay Area Hospital’s decision to eliminate smoking on its property next year wasn’t made lightly, or without opposition.

Tom Shine, vice president for human resources, said the decision to pursue the policy came after a number of employees said they didn’t like having to deal with smoke at work. He also noted that more than half the hospitals in Oregon have such policies.

But he realizes there are many employees, at least 100, who smoke, and not all of them are thrilled with the idea.

Dana Tollefson, a registered nurse, is one of the skeptical. She said some smokers feel the new policy is a form of discrimination, though she understands why it is being implemented.

“It is a health care institution and we do need to promote healthy behavior,” Tollefson said.

She joined the policy team working on the new plan after hearing patients say they would cancel their surgeries at the hospital if they couldn’t smoke. She said patients shouldn’t be forced to give up cigarettes when they are in need of medical care.

“It’s a moment of stress and that helps relieve the stress,” Tollefson said.

Linda Hicks, patient and community education coordinator, said patients who smoke would be prescribed medication to treat withdrawal symptoms, though they wouldn’t be forced to quit.

If all goes according to plan, the Coos Bay facility will join the ranks of tobacco-free health centers next summer.  Starting June 1, BAH employees, patients and visitors will have to go off the campus to puff on a cigarette.

“It just makes sense when tobacco causes so many diseases,” said Hicks. “We need to help people move away from it.”

Part of that effort started this week. Staff set up stands in lobbies and the cafeteria with information about quitting tobacco. There also will be clinics twice a month for people interested in kicking the habit.

Those efforts aside, the hospital isn’t forcing people to quit smoking.

“We don’t want people to feel like there is a witch-hunt going on,” Hicks said.

A team of doctors, nurses, administrators and other hospital staff have been working on the new policy for months. It’s not finalized.

Several smokers were involved in creating it, including Tollefson.

Although she has mixed feelings about the policy, Tollefson said she was encouraged by the process. Non-smokers on the team have taken into consideration the challenges patients will face by not being able to smoke.

“It’s going to be hard, but knowing we aren’t forcing a martial state, I think that’s going to help a lot,” she said.

Lauren Paquet, a registered nurse at Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center, knows what Shine and Hicks are facing. She helped implement the program at the Bandon hospital last July. She dealt with the balancing act of providing a healthy environment while considering hospital users’ needs.

It can be a stressful experience to have a loved one in the hospital, so Southern Coos allows visitors to smoke in their cars. Employees, however, aren’t allowed to smoke on the property.

“We wanted to convey a message that we believe tobacco products are hazardous and research shows that,” she said.

Stephen Brown, tobacco program coordinator at Coos County Public Health, said the county’s hospitals are taking a commendable step toward reducing tobacco use.

“I’m hoping it will spread to clinics as well,” he said.

He said opposition has been fairly mild at hospitals that implement the new policy. He noted that the Stand Up effort was spurred by hospitals barring tobacco in North Carolina, where the plant served as the economic backbone for centuries.

Hicks noted that there are health benefits from giving up smoking for hospital visitors. Smokers have twice the infection rate following surgery than non-smokers, and 28 percent of all cancer deaths in Oregon are from lung cancer, a disease closely associated with smoking.

“Smoking really impairs healing,” she said.

Word about the impending Bay Area Hospital policy is trickling out into the community. Not everyone is happy about it.

Meryia Pake and Sandy Montoya were both smoking outside Bay Area Hospital on Monday when they learned of the tobacco ban plan.

“It’s just taking away another one of our rights,” Pake said, noting that she has arthritis and smoking helps to keep her nerves down.

Both women want to give up their habit and are enrolling in the hospital’s no-smoking program, though they see no reason to eliminate the designated smoking areas.

“If somebody doesn’t smoke, they don’t have to be here,” Pake said.