HCA Healthcare Hosts Second Annual “Crush the Crisis” National Opioid Take Back Day

HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced its second annual national “Crush the Crisis” event to raise awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse and proper disposal of medications. On Saturday, October 24, in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, approximately 95 HCA Healthcare facilities across 16 states will partner with local law enforcement agencies to collect unused and expired prescription medications at events across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. suffered from an opioid use disorder and more than 67,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2018. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the U.S. is seeing an increase in opioid usage, with 40 states reporting increases in opioid-related mortality, according to the American Medical Association (AMA).

“The misuse of prescription opioids often begins when the drugs are obtained from a friend or family member's medicine cabinet, making it more important than ever to get unused pain medications out of homes and safely discarded,” said Dr. Michael Schlosser, chief medical officer of HCA Healthcare’s national group and vice president of group operations, Clinical Operations Group. “We were thrilled at the success of last year’s ‘Crush the Crisis’ events and look forward to continuing the fight against opioid abuse on October 24.”

The idea for HCA Healthcare’s “Crush the Crisis” came from Sara Stedman, an orthopedic nurse who has witnessed the effects of opioid addiction. In 2017, Stedman inspired a single take back event at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and the following year HCA Healthcare’s TriStar Division joined her cause, with eight hospitals collecting more than 224 pounds of medication. Last year, “Crush the Crisis” was rolled out nationally, spanning 100 locations across 16 states, with 5,887 pounds of medication collected. This equates to over 4 million doses of unused medication.

“In every community, people are losing their jobs, losing their families, losing their lives, because of opioid abuse, and I felt like I needed to act,” said Stedman. “Thanks to the continuous support of HCA Healthcare and those across the country that participated, we’re making a real impact by removing harmful drugs from our communities.”