Flin Flon’s only nursing home smoking room is closing amid plans to use the space for spiritual ceremonies.
With no elderly residents using it, the smoking room at the Northern Lights Manor is scheduled to permanently close in the near future.
“We have been consulting with residents and their families on this issue and have seen positive support,” said Glenn Hildebrand, spokesman for the Northern Health Region (NHR), which operates the Manor.
Hildebrand said the NHR has had a smoke-free policy for a number of years and that the decision to close the smoking room is consistent with provincial direction regarding smoking.
But the daughter of one Flin Flon resident waiting for a nursing home spot is hoping the NHR will reconsider.
“My dad has been smoking forever and shouldn’t have to quit when the time to move into [either the Personal Care Home or the Manor] comes,” she told The Reminder, requesting her name not be published so as not to reveal her father’s identity.
The Personal Care Home does not have a smoking room. In fact, the Manor is the only nursing home in northern Manitoba that has a smoking room.
Hildebrand said the NHR offers smoking-cessation support to any residents who ask for it.
“We work with our elders in the spirit of cooperation,” he said. “We have found that most elders choose to stop smoking for other health reasons and we support that. Our support has been very individually based, depending on the needs and desires of the elders.”
The Manor’s smoking room is specially designed with its own ventilation system to ensure other residents and staff are not exposed to secondhand smoke.
Brad Hartle, a spokesman for the Manitoba government, said provincial legislation allows smoking rooms in care homes as long as they are physically enclosed with separate ventilation systems.
The most recent figures show that 17 personal care homes in Manitoba have smoking rooms, he said, but it is up to each health region and each facility to decide whether to have such a facility.
Overall, Hartle said, the province encourages a smoke-free approach in many different facets of society through legislation, regulation and policy.
“The overall provincial position is to reduce tobacco use and improve the health of Manitobans,” he said.
While no final decisions have been made on what to do with the Manor’s smoking room, Hildebrand said the NHR is leaning toward turning it into a space for spiritual care, including Aboriginal smudging ceremonies.
