OHA congratulates hospital partners in reducing tobacco use

Posted on: 2/26/21

Hospitals Helping Patients Quit (HHPQ), an initiative of the OHA and program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), would like to recognize four hospital partners that have achieved notable benchmarks in reducing tobacco use in Oklahoma. These leaders have made a critical commitment to their patients, employees, and communities to reduce Oklahoma’s leading cause of preventable death, tobacco use and related illness. The visionary hospitals recognized have implemented a permanent and standard best-practice protocol for identifying, counseling, and referring individuals to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (OTH) for coaching support and nicotine replacement therapy.

OHA celebrates these leaders for achieving notable benchmarks in referrals to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline:
• SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital - Shawnee – 950
• Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Lawton – 650
• OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center – 450
• Southwestern Medical Center, Lawton - 200

Through effective, health care provider-driven tobacco treatment services, HHPQ partner hospitals and clinics have referred more than 47,000 patients to the OTH resulting in an estimated 33,000 years of life saved and millions of dollars in reduced health care cost as well as personal spending on tobacco products.

The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) supports OHA’s Hospital Helping Patients Quit. For more information on the HHPQ initiative, click here or email [email protected]. (Meagan Carter)