The University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia recently announced that it will no longer hire smokers . A job applicant must be tobacco-free for six months to qualify for a position there . This decision will surely prove popular . Defending the dirty habit of smoking is now left to fat cat lobbyists , highly paid lawyers with no conscience and far-right-wing crackpots . I am not in those ranks . ( Full disclosure : I was a former employee of the university . ) But , keeping smokers out of the hospital work force unless it protects patients makes me very nervous . Ethically , it is hard to digest . Penn is not the first health care institution to go tobacco-free in hiring . The Cleveland Clinic did so back in 2007 . The Geisinger Health System in northern Pennsylvania has had such a policy complete with required nicotine testing for more than a year . Hospitals and health systems in Florida , Georgia , Massachusetts , Missouri , Idaho , Virginia , Ohio , Tennessee and Texas have all stopped hiring smokers . Lots of companies outside health care are not hiring smokers either , but the big push is in hospitals and health systems . So what is wrong with not hiring those who engage in ( or have engaged in ) a gross , sickening , bad habit ? In justifying its decision , Penn says smoking and secondhand smoke contribute to 443,000 premature deaths a year and cost $ 193 billion in health care and lost productivity . So , clearly they want to try and make a dent in that bill by barring tobacco users . In addition , Penn notes on its website that , `` Employees who smoke cost , on average , $ 3,391 more a year for health care . In addition , smoke breaks during work may be disruptive and subject patients/colleagues to the unpleasant smell of smoke on employees ' scrubs and clothing . '' So the two big reasons are making a dent in a costly bad lifestyle choice and saving money for the health care system by hiring tobacco-free employees . I am not sure if I buy the smoke break disruption or the smelly clothes arguments . If they are problems , then send the smokers outside to a spot far away from where the patients come in and out , or have them wash their hands and faces , which everyone ought be doing anyway , and only give them the same breaks from work that everyone else gets . It comes down to a matter of fairness . Why ca n't the hospital work with people who may want to change their behavior but are having a hard time doing so ? There 's a little hypocrisy when as a place where you bring people back from sickness to health , your policy seems to reflect little concern for getting health care workers to become healthier . I do n't doubt smokers cost us all a lot of money . It is also cheaper not to have to hire them and give them insurance or see them miss work . But the obese , the gamblers , rugby players , skiers , the sedentary , the promiscuous who do n't practice safe sex , those who wo n't wear helmets on motorcycles and bikes , horseback riders , pool owners , all-terrain-vehicle operators , small-plane pilots , sunbathers , scuba divers , and surfers -- all of whom cost us money and incur higher than average health care costs -- are still on the job . Picking on the smokers alone is simply not fair . And what message does a no-smokers-are-welcome policy send ? We do n't want you in our health care system ? Should n't doctors and nurses learn to work with those who sin and stray from the dictates of good health ? As long as those who have bad habits are not compromising the quality of health care being provided on hospital ground , then let 's not exclude smoking nurses , fat physical therapists , and scuba diving pharmacists from work . What is the best way to get a doctor or nurse who smokes to stop ? Make sure they can not get a job ? Oh yeah -- that will surely make them kick the habit ! Why not hire them , tell them they have to get into anti-smoking programs and pay them a bonus when they stay smoke-free ? Not hiring smokers at hospitals does send a message -- but it is n't one that hospitals and health systems ought to be sending .
The University of Pennsylvania Health System said it would no longer hire smokers . # ##s : Keeping smokers out of the hospital work force is ethically hard to digest . He says it 's there are many unhealthy habits out there . It 's unfair to make them job ##less . Caplan : ' n't doctors and nurses supposed to work with those who stray from good habits ?