The Surgeon General issued a report in 2004 citing smoking as the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death in the nation.  Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that second-hand smoke directly increases the risk of illness in nonsmokers.  Tobacco use is also the number one cause of cancer, emphysema and drug addiction.
  
Here are a few facts about smoking:

• Smoking is one of the factors in the top four causes of death.
• Patients who smoke regularly before surgery have twice the risk of wound infections as non-smokers.
• A smoker's broken bones take almost twice as long to heal as a non-smoker's.
• Smoking slows wound healing.
• Over 430,000 people die prematurely each year from smoking related diseases.

What does a tobacco free campus look like? 

McLaren-Central Michigan prohibits smoking or tobacco use anywhere in the buildings or on the grounds owned or leased by McLaren-Central Michigan.

Hospital patients have Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) options, such as nicotine gum and patches, if they choose.  Patient's family members and friends may also utilize NRT options while visiting loved ones in the hospital.