Hospitals Making New Hires Pass Nicotine Test

Two Central Florida hospitals have a new rule for hiring people: no smokers allowed. WFTV wanted to know if it applies to everyone who does work at the hospitals.

Lori Bajares opened a Tavares salon two years ago. She considers herself to be an equal opportunity employer, but she believes some bosses don't play fair.

"Well, I think it's a form of prejudice, because I smoke," she said.

That means Lori would not be able to get a job at Florida Hospital Waterman.

"Smoking kills you," hospital president Kenneth Mattison said.

Mattison says, come January 1, all new hires at Waterman, and Fish Memorial in Orange City, will have to pass a nicotine test; anyone who fails will not be hired.

That means you not only can't be a smoker, you can't use nicotine gum, or the patch, or electronic cigarettes.

"The fact that somebody would use a device like an electronic cigarette means there is an addiction there," Mattison said.

Mattison says current employees who smoke are grandfathered in and would not be required to quit, although no one has been allowed to smoke anywhere on the Waterman campus since 2007. The rules will not apply to doctors or volunteers, since they are not employed by the hospital.

Waterman administrators say, while employing non-smokers can cut medical insurance costs, healthy behavior was the key factor for the new rules, not business.

Tobacco use in the United States costs Americans nearly $200 billion a year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $96 billion is spent to cover health care costs. People exposed to secondhand smoke cost another $10 billion a year and more than $97 billion is lost due to Americans missing work due to tobacco-related illnesses.