The Hood River County Prevention Department recently received a Columbia Gorge Health Council grant, aimed at providing tobacco cessation support in the region. This $40,000 award, plus a similar $27,452 award from the Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division’s Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention section will provide the opportunity to further develop and strengthen efforts underway to support ready-to-quit smokers in their quest to become tobacco-free, said a press release.
Cigarette smoking continues to be one of the leading causes of death and disability in Oregon. The 2019 Columbia Gorge Regional Community Health Assessment conducted by the Columbia Gorge Health Council/Pacific Source Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) found that 77.3 percent of adult tobacco users in Hood River County and 53.5 percent of Wasco County adult tobacco users wanted help quitting tobacco.
Previous regional efforts to support tobacco cessation included the addition of a trained tobacco treatment specialist (TTS), who accepted referrals for “ready to quit” individuals. This personalized approach proved to be effective for those accessing this resource. When the COVID-19 pandemic began and the former TTS moved out of the area, that resource was not available. The current grant funding is supporting the expansion of this valuable resource. Local resident and Quit Champion Patti Blagg said, “I tried several modalities to quit smoking over 35 years. The help I received from MCMC Cessation support was the best thing I did.”
Collaborative partners in this work include Mid-Columbia Medical Center (MCMC) out-patient clinics, One Community Health (OCH), The Next Door, Inc. (TND), and the Hood River Prevention Department. Two staff members from both MCMC and OCH have received tobacco treatment specialist training from Duke University. They will be accepting referrals from their respective medical teams.
Persons interested in benefiting from these trained tobacco treatment specialists are asked to talk with their primary care provider. For those ready to quit smoking without a care provider, contact One Community Health in Hood River (541-386-386-6380) or The Dalles (541-296-4610), or Mid-Columbia Medical Center at 541- 506-5819.
The Next Door is helping to share this expanded resource to the residents they work with, and One Community Health clinics have bilingual Spanish staff members, said a press release.
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