OGDENSBURG -- Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center teamed up with the Tobacco Cessation Center of Northern New York (TCCNNY) to provide the New York State Opt-to-Quit program, designed for healthcare delivery systems to help patients become and stay tobacco free.

The Opt-to-Quit program is “designed to support a hospital, clinic, office practice or program to provide tobacco using patients with help to stop smoking,” CHMC said. “The program is a policy-driven system-wide solution for ensuring quit smoking support is offered and accessible to patients once they leave the healthcare setting. The program is an adjunct to existing cessation services.”

Tobacco cessation specialist Shannon VanHouse provides one-on-one outpatient smoking cessation counseling and group workshops. CHMC’s respiratory therapy staff provides smoking cessation counseling for inpatients.

Because smoking is a chronic re-occurring condition with quit and relapse cycles, the Opt-to-Quit Program extends contact with the patient over several months. The purpose is to motivate subsequent quit attempts, encourage tobacco using or recently quit patients to use Quitline services and to offer access to appropriate levels of service, CHMC said.

To help patients, the Quitline will make multiple attempts to contact tobacco using patients to offer a description of services and opportunities for the patient to access. These include phone and web-based cessation, coaching, assistance for developing a quit plan, screening for nicotine replacement, and access to online cessation services.

To help hospitals and health care sites, the NYSSQL will assist with policy development, staff training, technology consultation, and implementation.

For more information about tobacco cessation services at Claxton-Hepburn, contact VanHouse at 315-713-5117, or call 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487) or visit www.nysmokefree.com. Your tomorrow is worth defending.