Pennsylvania Act 1977-75 — HOSPITALS - REGULATION OF SMOKING

Act text

HOSPITALS - REGULATION OF SMOKING
                  Act of Dec. 1, 1977, P.L. 236, No. 75               Cl. 35
                                  AN ACT

     Prohibiting smoking in patients' rooms in hospitals and
        providing a penalty.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  (a)  No person shall smoke tobacco or any other
     substance in a hospital patient care area nor in a patient room
     designated as a non-smoking room by the hospital administrator.
     No person shall smoke in a public area of a hospital designated
     by the hospital administrator as a non-smoking area. No person
     other than a patient, shall smoke in a patient room designated
     by the hospital administrator as a smoking room.
        (b)  At admission to a hospital, a patient may choose a
     patient room designated by the hospital administrator as a
     smoking or non-smoking room. If after reasonable efforts, the
     hospital administrator is unable to comply with the patient's
     choice, the administrator may place the patient in any room.
        (c)  Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a)
     shall upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding be
     sentenced to pay a fine of $10 and costs of prosecution.
        (d)  As used in this section, the term "hospital" means a
     facility licensed or approved as a hospital by the Department of
     Health.
        Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.