LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) --
Gwinnett Medical Center says it will no longer hire smokers to work at the Lawrenceville hospital.

Spokeswoman Andrea Wehrmann says the new policy took effect July
1. She says it does not affect existing employees, but hospital
officials say they plan to crack down harder on employees caught
smoking on hospital grounds.

Wehrmann says failure to heed multiple warnings could cost
employees their jobs.

Steve Nadeau, the hospital's vice president for human resources,
says the ban on hiring smokers demonstrates the hospital's
commitment to good health.