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"WellSpan health facilities through the Susquehanna Valley have been tobacco-free since 2006.Video: Watch Jim Sinkovitz's reportNow, beginning next year, the group will no longer hire new employees who light up or use other tobacco products.\"We feel - being a health organization - we should take a leadership role to decrease the amount of tobacco use that's out in our community,\" said Robert Batory, senior vice president at WellSpan.Batory says the WellSpan system discussed the issue over the last 6 to 8 months and had some very spirited debate.Still, in the end, he said the system decided to adopt the policy to not hire any new employees who use tobacco products.It's the same one implemented at Ephrata Community Hospital, which joined WellSpan last year.The group isn't breaking new ground. It's joining 5 other health care systems including Lancaster General Health and the University of PA Health Systems.\"We believe that this is an important step for us to take for promoting healthier lifestyles in our region,\" said Batory.Potential WellSpan employees already go through a pre-placement physical exam that includes a urine drug screening test, which will can also be used to test for nicotine.New employees will not be retested after they are hired.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wgal.com/article/no-smoking-wellspan-won-t-offer-smokers-employment/6233084>