OHA’s Foundation honors Ascension St. John Medical Center with Tobacco Champion of Health Award

Posted on: 8/30/24

OHA’s Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma recently recognized Ascension St. John Medical Center as a Tobacco Treatment Champion of Health for greatest growth in Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline referrals. This award is given annually by the OHA to partners who demonstrate exceptional commitment to supporting patients in their journey to quit tobacco. 

Tobacco use produces multiple damaging and direct health consequences while interacting with other diseases to exacerbate existing and create new damaging health outcomes. To tackle the issue of comorbidities compounded by tobacco use, Ascension St. John worked closely with OHA to build a comprehensive and successful course of action allowing healthcare providers to more easily support patients wanting and needing to quit tobacco.

Ascension St. John is the first major health system in Tulsa to roll out a system wide clinical tobacco cessation program involving electronic referrals to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline.
Amongst all Ascension St. John Health System referring locations, the Tulsa medical center is the leader, making up over 63% of the total referrals sent overall since the project began in 2015. Since implementing the electronic referral to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline in 2023, there was a 309% increase in referrals from Ascension St. John Medical Center. 

“It is an honor to receive the Tobacco Champion of Health award,” said Jason Hall, assistant COO for Ascension St. John Medical Center. “By implementing an electronic referral system, we are able to get people the tools they need to quit tobacco successfully.”

Due to the efforts of the entire Ascension St. John health system to refer their patients to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline for follow-up support, it is estimated that 930 years of life have been saved and almost $500,000 in health care costs have been saved or avoided. The Ascension St. John Medical Center was provided with a plaque celebrating this achievement at a ceremony on Aug. 16. 

The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) supports health improvement initiatives (HII) at OHA’s Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma. For more information about OHA’s HII, click here. For information on the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, click here. 

At the plaque presentation are (left to right) Kelly Willingham, OHA health improvement specialist; Eric Finley, executive director, Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma; Jason Hall; Celima Louviere; Kit Fielder; Cristen Senter; T.C. Hartman; Elizabeth Radford; Kellie Redman; and Lindsey Thompson.