LAUSR

Abstract Smoking is associated with one out of five deaths in the United States. Multi-modality tobacco treatment increases rates of successful cessation by at least 20%. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to many inpatient and outpatient medical visits deemed non-essential, including tobacco treatment. The transition to telehealth has been wrought with challenges. While data on the association between COVID-19 and tobacco products is mixed, the overall health consequences of tobacco point towards increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with the virus. This leaves smoking as one of the few readily modifiable risk factors in an environment understandably not set up to prioritize cessation. A military health facility on Fort Eustis in Virginia runs a successful tobacco treatment program and adapted it to pandemic times. This paper describes the process and lessons learned from this initiative. The model is applicable and scalable to government and civilian health centers as healthcare adapts to a new normal.