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MD Anderson announces tobacco-free hiring policy

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced that starting Jan. 1, 2015, it will hire only those applicants who are tobacco-free.

“If we want to make a serious impact on smoking and tobacco use, we must continue to lead by example and create a healthy environment internally for patients, visitors, faculty and staff,” Ernest Hawk, MD, MPH, vice president and division head of MD Anderson’s Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences and co-leader of the cancer prevention and control platform, said in a press release.

As part of its routine application process, the center will screen new applicants for tobacco use. Any individuals who test positive for tobacco use will not be immediately eligible for employment. If an applicant remains interested in employment, however, the center will provide smoking cessation tools and information, and an applicant may reapply after 180 days. The changes will not affect those already employed by the center.

“As an institution with the mission of ending cancer, we felt those who wish to work at MD Anderson must be willing to make a personal commitment to help reduce cancer rates,” Shibu Varghese, vice president for human resources, said in the release. “Because secondhand smoke also has been linked to cancer, it’s also a commitment on behalf of our employees to the entire community.”

MD Anderson offers free smoking cessation clinics that include behavioral therapy and medications, and it has been a smoke-free campus since 1989. In 1994, the center prohibited accepting research funding from tobacco companies.

“Our institution has worked to eliminate tobacco use for a long time at the local, state and national levels,” Mark Moreno, vice president for governmental relations and co-leader of the cancer prevention and control platform at MD Anderson, said in the release. “This is another opportunity to assure that our internal processes support our overarching mission of eliminating cancer through both preventive and therapeutic means.”