Smokers Need Not Apply at SSM

SSM Health Care annouced two new policies that it says are designed to create a safer environment for patients and a healthier overall workforce.

Starting July 1, SSM will implement a tobacco-free hiring policy at all SSM facilities in Missouri and mandatory flu vaccinations for all employees across the SSM Health Care system.

“As a health-care provider, we need to take a leadership role on these major public health issues,” said Sister Mary Jean Ryan, chairman and CEO of SSM Health Care, in a news release. “Not hiring tobacco users is a first step toward creating a healthier workforce, and mandatory flu vaccinations will help protect our patients, our colleagues and their families.”

The tobacco-free hiring policy only applies to the hiring of new employees and not to current employees. The policy also only applies to SSM facilities in Missouri, where the law permits SSM to take this action. SSM will encourage legislation in the other states where it operates (Wisconsin, Illinois and Oklahoma) in order to adopt similar hiring policies there. SSM operates in Fenton, six other hospitals in the St. Louis metro area, one in Maryville, Mo., and one in Jefferson City, Mo.

Under the new policy, all individuals who apply for a position with SSM Health Care facilities in Missouri on or after July 1 will be asked on the application if they have been tobacco-free for six months. If they say no, the application process will not go forward.

The American Heart Association has offered its support for SSM’s adoption of a tobacco-free hiring policy. “The American Heart Association congratulates SSM Health Care for adopting a tobacco free hiring policy,” said Jace Smith, American Heart Association Government Relations Director – Missouri, according to the SSM news release. “Tobacco-free hiring is an important public health measure that will create a healthier work environment.”

SSM has been a tobacco-free environment since 2004, when it became the largest health-care system in the nation to eliminate tobacco use both inside and out at all its facilities. One of SSM’s primary objectives is promoting public health, and in particular, discouraging the use of tobacco products.

Under the second policy, flu vaccinations will be mandatory for all employees, volunteers and employed physicians across the entire SSM Health Care system – except for individuals who have medical or religious reasons for not taking the vaccination, according to the news release.

“Vaccinations protect our patients from additional illness when they are already in a vulnerable situation, and it is the right thing to do not only for our patients but their families as well,” stated Dr. James Hinrichs, chief medical officer, SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Mo.

 In 2009, SSM adopted an influenza education and vaccination policy where all employees who declined to get a flu shot were asked to sign a statement saying they understood the risk to themselves, their patients and their families. That year, 73 percent of SSM employees received vaccination. In 2010, 75 percent of SSM employees received the influenza vaccine.

Click here to view the entire news release, including a video about SSM’s mandatory flu vaccine policy, at www.ssmhc.com