HCA Midwest Health will host "Crush the Crisis" Opioid Take Back Day on Saturday, October 23 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The public can safely dispose of unused medications at Belton Regional Medical Center, Centerpoint Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, and Research Medical Center/Research Brookside Campus. Employees, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and staff, and members of area police departments invite community members to safely dispose of unused medications.
Belton Regional Medical Center, 17065 US-71, Belton, MO 64012 The collection site will be conveniently located at the hospital’s Visitor Entrance. In partnership with Belton Police Department.
Centerpoint Medical Center. 19600 E. 39th St., Independence, MO 64057
The collection site will be conveniently located in a tent on the south side of the Medical Office Building on the hospital campus. In partnership with the Independence Police Department.
Lee’s Summit Medical Center, 2100 S.E. Blue Pkwy, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063
The collection site will be conveniently located in front of the ER entrance. In partnership with Lee’s Summit Police Department.
Research Brookside Campus, 6675 Holmes Rd, Kansas City, MO 64132
The collection site will be conveniently located in Parking Lot B, outside the Physical Therapy/Gym entrance. In partnership with the Kansas City Police Department.
HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s leading and most comprehensive healthcare provider, is hosting its Third Annual “Crush the Crisis” Opioid Take Back Day at four of its hospitals in four locations to raise awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse and proper disposal of medications. Community members are invited to dispose of unused or expired prescription medications safely and anonymously. The event aligns with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70,630 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019, with more than 70% attributed to opioids. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the U.S. is seeing an increase in opioid usage, and it is possible that a significant number of opioid addictions and overdose deaths come from individuals accessing unused opioids prescriptions of family and friends.
“Opioid addiction is a national health crisis, and it is imperative that we get unused pain medications out of homes where they can more easily end up in the wrong hands,” says HCA Midwest Health Chief Medical Officer Kimberly Megow, M.D. “We invite the community to join us for this year’s ‘Crush the Crisis’ to properly dispose of unused and expired medications and help us spread awareness and education about the serious threat of opioid misuse.”
Law enforcement officers at each hospital will collect these medications:
- Tablets, capsules and patches of Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), Tramadol (Ultram), Codeine, Fentanyl (Duragesic), Morphine, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and Oxymorphone (Opana).
- Any medications are accepted; however, needles, syringes, lancets, inhalers or liquids cannot be accepted.
To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of HCA Midwest Health, proudly partners with and provides clinical insight to the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic. HCA Healthcare has committed $750,000 to the Collaborative to support the development of safer pain management protocols and reversal of the opioid crisis.
As a learning health system, HCA Healthcare uses data from approximately 32 million annual patient encounters to help continuously improve care. The organization uses the science of “big data” to reduce opioid misuse and transform pain management, with initiatives in surgical, emergency and other care settings, including:
- Enhanced Surgical Recovery (ESR): a multi-modal approach to pain management that has demonstrated significant improvements in surgical recovery and a drastic reduction in the use of opioids. HCA Healthcare data from 86,820 joint replacement, gynecologic oncology, colorectal and bariatric surgeries using ESR in 2020 revealed an up to 26 percent reduction in opioid usage for these patients. As of August 2021, ESR is live at 168 HCA Healthcare facilities, with the goal to make ESR the standard of care for all service lines.
- Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS): aims to stem increasing rates of opioid-related addiction, misuse persian and death by making it more difficult for medication seekers to doctor-shop and alter prescriptions. Physicians have access to aggregated electronic health record (EHR) providing data that will allow them to prescribe opioids judiciously.