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Intermountain Healthcare is issuing an ultimatum to its lobbying corps: Kick tobacco or else.
The region's largest health-care provider sent letters this month to its contract lobbyists -- including former House Speaker Greg Curtis -- demanding that they sign a conflict-of-interest statement vowing not to lobby on behalf of tobacco companies or Intermountain would terminate their pacts.
"The purpose of the statement is to preclude Intermountain lobbyists from working for tobacco interests, and to force current lobbyists who represent tobacco to choose one side or the other," said the letter from Alan Dayton, Intermountain's director of government relations.
Five lobbyists worked for both Intermountain and tobacco companies in the past legislative session: Curtis, Miles and Sue Ferry, their grandson David Stewart and Rob Jolley.
"We're tightening our policy," Intermountain spokesman Daron Cowley said. "We felt it was incongruous for firms to represent health care and tobacco at the same time."
It was an "obvious problem" and about time the health-care provider draws the line, said Dave Nicponski, who lobbies for Intermountain, but not for tobacco companies.
"Obviously there's a cross purpose when you're representing both parties and its detrimental to everything Intermountain Healthcare stands for, which is quality of life and preventive medicine," Nicponski said. "They're taking a stand, which is refreshing."
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"Their role was significant," said Michael Siler, government-relations director for the Utah chapter of the American Cancer Society. "They were some pretty powerful people who were advocating for the tobacco side of things, including the former speaker of the House, who obviously has some real inroads to legislators that other people likely do not."
Curtis' contract to lobby for Altria and its subsidiary, Philip Morris, expired at the end of the session. He updated his registration Wednesday to reflect he no longer lobbies for the company.
Sue Ferry said her husband, Miles "Cap" Ferry, a former Senate president, and their grandson will stick with the tobacco company.
"We will be staying with Altria. We've represented them a much longer period of time," she said. "[Intermountain] has known from the very beginning that we represented [Altria] and up until this last session that hasn't been a conflict or a problem."
She said that changed when Jon Huntsman Sr., the governor's father, raised the issue because he wanted a portion of the tobacco tax dedicated to research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute before the bill was defeated.
Ferry said she originally was hired by Philip Morris to lobby for stricter laws to prevent youth smoking, which resulted in changes such as doing away with cigarette vending machines and left Utah with some of the nation's toughest laws against youth smoking.
"This company," she said, "has never asked me to do one thing that would be contrary to the health, safety or welfare of the people of Utah or my religion."
Jolley did not return a phone message, but Cowley, the Intermountain spokesman, said he has told the company that he would give up lobbying for cigar manufacturers.
Siler said he was glad to see Intermountain's response.
"After all," he said, "they're a health-care entity and their main priority is the good health of the people of Utah, and someone working for the tobacco industry, their goals really run contradictory to the main goals of [Intermountain]."
