Hospitals in the New River Valley are getting ready to go tobacco-free, even outside their buildings.

Representatives of HCA and Carilion announced Wednesday that their hospitals, physician practices and outpatient centers in the region will restrict tobacco use January 1.

Currently, employees and visitors must go outside the facilities to use tobacco products. But next year, tobacco use will be discouraged both inside and out.

The president of Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, Don Halliwill, says the policy is the right example for health-care providers to set for the community.

He says employees were given a year's notice of the policy change to give them time to enter smoking-cessation programs.

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