A Missouri-based hospital chain will not hire new employees who have nicotine in their systems starting 21 November.

All potential employees of the hospital chain CoxHealth will have to pass a nicotine screening — after being offered a job — in order to be hired, President and CEO Steve Edwards said at a news conference, the Springfiled News-Leader reports.
Applicants who fail the urine test will be offered tobacco-cessation classes and invited to reapply later. Any new hires who take up smoking later will be risking their job, Edwards said — although the company has not determined how that will be monitored.
Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic became the first major health care provider to stop hiring smokers in 2007. (pi)