08 Nov MHA Bans Hiring of Tobacco Users

HealthLeadersMedia.com | November 8 – The Massachusetts Hospital Association unabashedly announced this month that it will no longer hire tobacco users, sending a very public get-tough message that it hopes will resonate with other employers looking to reduce healthcare costs.

MHA President/CEO Lynn Nicholas says the trade group for more than 100 hospitals in the Bay State decided to go public with the ban—which takes effect Jan. 1—to raise awareness about the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States.

“We could have just implemented this policy and never said a word,” Nicholas says. “I thought that by putting the example out there it would start a dialog.”

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