With health facilities across the state having already gone the tobacco-free route, Vaughan Regional Medical Center will soon join in the effort, becoming a tobacco free facility Monday, Nov. 19.

The new initiative, Vaughan Regional CEO Barry Keel said, will apply to smokeless tobacco and tobacco products and will include the elimination of designated areas outside the hospital where employees, patients and visitors currently use tobacco products.

Keel said the decision goes along with Vaughan’s mission to make communities healthier.

“We believe that we have a responsibility to take a leadership role on this major health issue and to promote a healthier environment,” Keel said in a news release.  “Evidence shows us that smoking or breathing secondhand smoke damages nearly every organ in the human body.”

Smoking is linked to at least 10 different cancers, Keel said, and accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cancer-related deaths. Keel believes “tobacco-free” is the “right thing to do for the right reason.”

“We do not take this decision lightly … we believe our patients, visitors, employees, volunteers, physicians and the broader community will see a significant health benefit as a result of this initiative,” Keel said. “It is the right thing to do for the health of our community. Our board, medical staff and employees are supportive of this direction …”