1990’s – UOHI’s Outpatient Quit Smoking Program
Since the early 1990s, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) has been offering outpatient smoking cessation services under the banner of the Quit Smoking Program (QSP).

2002 – UOHI’s Inpatient Smoking Cessation Program
Our team began testing a process now known as the OMSC that systematically identified smokers and offered in-hospital cessation treatment and follow-up support. Evaluation of this process demonstrated an absolute 15% increase in long-term quit rates (from 29% to 44% at 6 months).

2006 – Champlain Local Health Integration Network Expansion
Our team began assisting other institutions to embed tobacco dependence treatment protocols within their existing clinical practices. An evaluation of the first 9 hospitals to implement the OMSC revealed an 11.1% increase (from 18.3% to 29.4%) in long-term quit rates following introduction of the model in the Champlain LHIN.

2007 – Ontario and National Expansion
The OMSC network of hospitals continued to expand first in the provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, and British Columbia, and soon after in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. View map

2008 – OMSC in Outpatient and Specialty Care Settings
The OMSC began to organically spread to hospital outpatient units. The first major adaptation to the process for ambulatory care settings was tested in a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) beginning in 2008 at the Ottawa Hospital.

2009 – OMSC in Primary Care
In 2009, the OMSC was adapted and piloted for use in primary care practices in the Champlain region. Evaluation data showed a significant increase in the number of patients who received advice about and assistance with quitting.

2009 – Centres of Excellence
As the program grew across Canada, two OMSC “Centres of Excellence” were established to offer outreach facilitation, knowledge translation and evaluation support to healthcare sites in eastern (Horizon Health Network) and western Canada (Vancouver Coastal Health).

2009 to Present
While continuing to work in traditional settings, recent emphasis has been on program expansion to unique patient populations and settings. Such as:
- Acute Care Hospitals
- Addiction Treatment Centres
- Community Mental Health Agencies
- Cardiovascular Units/Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs
- Community Health Centres
- Diabetes Clinics
- Dialysis Programs
- Family Health Teams
- Immunodeficiency Clinics
- Inner City Healthcare Programs (Healthcare for the Homeless)
- Home Care Programs
- Mental Health Centres
- Nephrology Clinics
- Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics
- Occupational Health and Wellness
- Pre-Surgical Units
- Regional Cancer Centres
- Rehabilitation Centres and Hospitals
- Respiratory Clinics
- Solo Practitioner’s Offices
- Stroke Prevention Clinics
- Women’s Health Clinics

By 2016, the OMSC had been implemented in over 350 inpatient, outpatient, primary care and specialty care sites across Canada. View full image.