Pictured L-R: Hospital Security Director Phil LeClair, Hospital Pharmacy Director Jimmy Godwin, WCSO Detective Kyle Strickland, Pharmacy Tech Alesha Wright and WCSO Major Neil Skerratt.
Memorial Satilla Health and Ware County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the Waycross Exchange Club, collected 35 pounds of prescription medications during “Crush the Crisis,” a prescription drug takeback day held Saturday morning at the Okefenokee Fairgrounds. The event aims to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications.
Crush the Crisis, which coincides with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, offers the community an opportunity to safely and anonymously dispose of medications before they fall into the wrong hands.
Last year – for the first time since 2018 – there was a decrease in national drug overdose deaths in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, prescription drug misuse remains a public health crisis in the United States.
“It’s our goal to care like family for the Waycross community, and our Crush the Crisis prescription take back day is a testament to this commitment,” said Dale Neely, CEO at Memorial Satilla. “By offering a safe and anonymous way to dispose of medications, reducing the risk of misuse and preventing potential harm, we are helping to create healthier tomorrows for the people who live and work in our community.”
Last year, more than 120 HCA Healthcare facilities from all 15 U.S. divisions partnered with local law enforcement. In total, approximately 13,136 pounds, equivalent to 9.02 million doses, of unused and expired prescription medications were collected.
As a part of their commitment to combat prescription drug misuse, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of Memorial Satilla, has worked with the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.
HCA Healthcare uses data from approximately 43 million annual patient encounters to help continuously improve care. The organization uses the science of “big data” to reduce prescription drug 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 using pre, intra and post-operative interventions to optimize outcomes. HCA Healthcare’s ESR programs have demonstrated significant improvements in surgical recovery and patient satisfaction, including decreases in opioid usage.
- Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS): aims to stem increasing rates of opioid-related addiction, misuse diversion and death by making it more difficult for medication-seekers to doctor-shop and alter prescriptions. Physicians have access to aggregated electronic health records, providing data that will allow them to prescribe opioids judiciously.