Bill Expands Hospital Smoking Ban

Publication Date: 2005-02-11

• Author:Doug Thompson and Rob Moritz
• Publication:Arkansas News Bureau

The Senate approved a bill Thursday that would make smoking illegal on hospital grounds, and the House endorsed a measure that gives an income-tax deduction to organ donors...

House Bill 1193 by Rep. Jay Bradford, D-White Hall, was presented to the Senate by Sen. Jerry Bookout, D-Jonesboro and passed 26-1. It bans smoking on the grounds of a medical facility, which is defined as hospitals, including inpatient and out-patient services, as well as hospital-owned and operated surgery centers and hospital-owned medical clinics. Psychiatric hospitals are exempt. Also, a doctor may allow a patient to smoke on a medical facility’s grounds if that patient is in a substance-abuse program.