North Country Tobacco Cessation Center

Tobacco has long been known to be highly addictive and cause a variety of chronic health problems, many of which end in death.

Despite this knowledge, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable chronic disease and premature death in the United States. In New York State 18.1% of adults smoke (NYS BRFSS, 2011), yet in Franklin County, the rate is much higher, 29.7%.. (ATFN survey, 2011)

The North Country Tobacco Cessation Center is one of 19 Cessation Centers in NYS funded by the New York State Tobacco Control Program. The center is a resource for healthcare professionals, tobacco users and interested members of the community.

Our primary goal is to increase the number of health care providers that integrate tobacco use treatment in daily practice. To this end, our work with health care organizations focuses on policy and environmental changes to prompt and support the treatment and documentation of evidence based care. Tobacco Cessation staff provide on-site trainings, up-to-date information on best practices, patient education materials, and recommendations on how to modify EHR or paper systems to improve the delivery and documentation of tobacco treatment.

In addition we also promote the NYS Cessation Center bi-monthly educational call series, provide support for tobacco free grounds initiatives, and associated counseling of employees affected by the new policy.

The Tobacco Cessation Center serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and Hamilton counties. To learn more about our services feel free to contact us at 518-897-5981 or at hdishman@heartnetwork.org