As of July 6, all acute-care hospitals in North Carolina will be 100 percent tobacco-free. Tobacco will be banned from use on all hospital premises including buildings, sidewalks, entrances and parking lots.

“North Carolina will pass a major health milestone next week,” said Dr. Meg Molloy, President and CEO of NC Prevention Partners in a press release. “We are leading the nation in tobacco-free hospitals and, with these policies in place, millions of hospital patients, visitors and employees will be protected from exposure to harmful secondhand smoke.”

While the non-profit organization, NC Prevention Partners, has pushed through this statewide ban, New Hanover Regional Medical Center and Brunswick Community Hospital have been smoke free since 2007. The campus at NHRMC went 100 percent smoke free last year.

So far, more than 100 hospitals in North Carolina have become smoke-free, according to the NC Prevention Partners' press release.