Celebrating with the Ottawa Heart Institute

HGMH is celebrating with the Ottawa Heart Institute: 10 years of offering smoking cessation support to patients!

Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital is celebrating today ten years of partnership with the Ottawa Heart Institute's Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation (OMSC). Since implementation of the OMSC at HGMH, an impressive 400 smokers have been reached through personalized, best practice tobacco dependence treatment, resulting in increased quit attempts and long-term cessation. An estimated 120 smokers are smoke-free as a result of the support they received while at HGMH.

In 2002, smoking cessation experts at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute developed the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation-an institutional program that systematically identifies, provides treatment, and offers follow-up to patients who smoke as part of routine care. In 2006, UOHI began to assist other inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings to implement the OMSC. Implementation of the OMSC led to an absolute 11% increase in long-term quit rates among hospitalized patients (from 18% to 29% at 6 months). In eastern Ontario, nearly 100,000 smokers have been assisted through Ottawa Model programs, leading to ~25,000 people becoming smoke-free.

"Implementing the Ottawa Model at our hospital has fundamentally improved our relationship with patients who smoke," says HGMH CEO Linda Morrow. "We now have the tools, the system, and a real team approach to more effectively support smokers while they are admitted to hospital. Our Smoking Cessation Coordinator meets with every admitted patient who smokes to discuss options for helping with any nicotine withdrawal they may be experiencing as well as supporting those patients who are ready to quit smoking for good."

"The success behind the Ottawa Model for Smoking cessation is truly found in the determined teams across Canada, like here in Alexandria, that are providing personalized support to smokers who are trying to quit," said Dr. Andrew Pipe, co-developer of the OMSC and Canada's foremost expert on smoking cessation. "As all hospital grounds in Ontario will be required to be smoke-free by January 2018, helping patients deal with nicotine withdrawal when they are admitted and stay smoke-free when they leave will remain an important priority for hospitals in our region."

About Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital

Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital (HGMH) is a patient-centred primary care hospital located in Alexandria, Ontario. We recently celebrated our fiftieth anniversary, and have grown to provide acute care, complex continuing care, 24-hour emergency services, and rehabilitation to over 23,000 residents every year. Our team includes 150 staff members, who all take pride in bringing quality health care to our local Eastern Ontario community. www.hgmh.on.ca

About the University of Ottawa Heart Institute

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute is Canada's largest and foremost heart health centre dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing heart disease. UOHI delivers high-tech care with a personal touch, shapes the way cardiovascular medicine is practiced and revolutionizes cardiac treatment and understanding. It builds knowledge through research and translates discoveries into advanced care. UOHI serves the local, national and international community, and is pioneering a new era in heart health.