Beaumont and Henry Ford health systems announced today they will not hire job applicants who use tobacco products, effective Jan. 1, 2013.

Job applicants will be screened for signs of nicotine as part of the hiring process.

Beaumont and Henry Ford join a growing number of local and national health care systems that have implemented a no-nicotine hiring policy, reinforcing their commitment to good health and wellness.

“As health care providers, we have a responsibility to take a leadership role in promoting healthy behaviors – starting with ourselves,” says Beaumont’s president and CEO Gene Michalski.

Henry Ford CEO Nancy Schlichting says the “health and well-being of our patients, employees and visitors is our top priority. The no-nicotine policy strengthens our commitment as role models for providing a healthy environment for everyone at our facilities.”

While the screening and ban on nicotine use only applies to new job applicants, Beaumont and Henry Ford also are enhancing their existing policies that prohibit the use of tobacco at their facilities, launched in 2007. This includes prohibiting employees from using tobacco products or smelling of tobacco at any time during their workday.

The measure represents Beaumont’s and Henry Ford’s ongoing commitment to patient safety and employee wellness. Tobacco products include but are not limited to cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes. Employees who violate these policies are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Through its myOptimal Health employee wellness program, Beaumont will reward employees and spouses who don’t smoke or who participate in a smoking cessation program with a premium credit on their health insurance contributions. Smoking cessation programs and aids are also available as a support for employees and their spouses at no cost to them.

Henry Ford offers Health Alliance Plan's Health Engagement program, which offers lower out-of-pocket costs for employees who meet certain lifestyle requirements, including not using tobacco products. Smoking cessation support, which may include counseling, classes and medications, are also available to all employees and their family members at no cost. The offer of free cessation counseling or classes is also being extended to community members for a limited time. Community members who take part in Henry Ford’s Tobacco Treatment Services, such as the Smoking Intervention Program and Freedom From Smoking classes, will be eligible for a discount on tobacco cessation medications when they purchase them at HFHS pharmacies.