No Better Time Than Now For Smoking Cessation Program
What could your company do with an extra $4,600 for each person you employ who smokes? That figure is the average extra cost that employers pay in healthcare for each employee who uses tobacco, according to Donna Borowski, LPN, a Tobacco Addiction Specialist in the Nicotine Dependence Program at Mission Hospital. "The Surgeon General states that there is not another drug as addictive as rapidly as nicotine," says Borowski. "The relapse for this drug is the highest of any drug out there."
Borowski believes that no matter how much an employee smokes or dips, they can kick the tobacco habit. A former tobacco addict, she understands the difficulty of the addiction. "I remember how it cooled the savage beast within me," she said. "I quit 10 times before it stuck. Most people just get so discouraged. You do have to realize that there are failures in kicking this addiction. Failure is part of the journey. But there is so much help out there now - programs and people who are just a phone call away, and new medications that work better than ever before."
There is fast growing movement in our country, in North Carolina and in Buncombe County toward going smoke-free. Mission Hospital, part of the Healthy Hospital Initiative movement, is one of 48 hospitals in North Carolina to do so. The Buncombe County School System is now smoke-free as well, and other major employers in our county are discussing this healthy option. Many states have adopted 100% tobacco-free laws. "The good news is that there is a massive network system in place to help you quit individually or to achieve a healthy workplace for employees," said Borowski.
Call us today to learn more.
Donna Borowski: 828-213-5527
Fern Webb: 828-213-5525
Mary Walker: 828-213-5528
