The Mercy Hospital Clermont campus is going tobacco-free starting the first of the year.

Mercy Hospital Clermont banned smoking several years ago inside the building for the obvious health benefits; this new policy will prohibit smoking (and all other types of tobacco use) everywhere on the hospital grounds, including all of the hospital’s entrances, the parking lots, and even inside private vehicles that are parked on the hospital property.

Mercy Hospital Clermont Public Relations Director Pete Gemmer said that the new tobacco-free policy will ban the use of all tobacco products on the hospital’s campus.

“This includes cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and chewing tobacco,” he said.