Orange Regional Medical Center has implemented a smoking rule that bans employees from lighting up at all during their shift, even when they are on break.

The new policy at the Middletown and Goshen hospitals goes into effect next Monday. This ban even extends to smoking off hospital grounds during breaks.

Executive Director of Public Relations Rob Lee says there were several factors leading to the hospital?s decision. Health care workers who smell like smoke are bad for patients, according to Lee. The hospital also believes employees who don?t smoke are in better health and miss less work.

Smokers on the staff say they expect their union to make a complaint in the near future.

?If we want to go to our car and have a cigarette, we should be able to,? said hospital employee Sheri Dendanto.