County health leaders commend UF, Shands for tobacco-free efforts

Leaders from the Alachua County Department of Health and the Tobacco Free Alachua program recently recognized the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare for their continuing work to create a tobacco-free environment for their employees, students and patients.

Steven B. Pokorny, Ph.D., director of health promotion at the health department, and Tobacco Free Alachua Vice Chair Thomas J. Harrington helped celebrate the academic health center’s one-year anniversary of going tobacco-free on Nov. 1 with a plaque presentation in the Founder’s Gallery.

“We are grateful for the cooperation and support of the entire UF and Shands community across both Jacksonville and Gainesville in implementing the new policies and guidelines fostered by Tobacco-Free Together,” said David Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., the senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “I encourage all of you to keep the momentum going. We want to continue to raise awareness and reinforce these policies for our patients, visitors, faculty, staff, students and volunteers.”

Guzick accepted the plaques along with Michael Good, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine; and Irene Alexaitis, M.S.N., R.N., vice president for Nursing and Patient Services at Shands at UF.

The Tobacco-Free Together program in Gainesville was launched to coincide with the Nov. 1, 2009, opening of Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, a state-of-the-art treatment facility. With a patient-friendly and environmentally responsible environment, the hospital serves as a continual reminder of the academic health center’s commitment to prevent, treat and one day eradicate cancer.