As pandemic-related stress may be fueling crisis, events at Centerpoint Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center and Research Medical Center correspond with DEA “Take Back Day” to educate community about safe, proper disposal of opioids.
WHO: HCA Midwest Health hospitals: Centerpoint Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center and Research Medical Center/Research Brookside Campus. Employees, including doctors, nurses and staff, and members of area police departments invite community members to safely dispose of unused medications.*
WHAT: Crush the Crisis – Opioid Take Back Day
WHEN: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, October 24, 2020
WHERE:
Centerpoint Medical Center. 19600 E. 39th St., Independence, MO 64057
The collection site will be conveniently located at the intersection of 39th St. and Jackson Drive on the south entrance of the Medical Office Building on the main campus of the hospital. Follow the event signs for medication drive-through location. In partnership with Independence Police Department.
Lee’s Summit Medical Center, 2100 S.E. Blue Pkwy, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063
The collections of medications will occur as a drive-through in front of the ER entrance. In partnership with Lee’s Summit Police Department and Lee’s Summit Cares.
Menorah Medical Center, 5721 W. 119th St., Overland Park, KS 66209
The drive-through collection site will be conveniently located at Entry C off 119th St. on the hospital campus. In partnership with the Overland Park Police Department.
Research Brookside Campus, 6675 Holmes Rd, Kansas City, MO 64132
The drive-through collection site is located in Parking Lot B. In partnership with the Kansas City Police Department.
COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place at the event, including universal masking, social distancing, removal of high-touch items and drive-through collection.
WHY: HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City’s leading and most comprehensive healthcare provider, is hosting a “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 safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired prescription medications. The event aligns with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
HCA Midwest Health is participating in its parent company’s second annual national “Crush the Crisis” Opioid Take Back Day. In fall 2019, 100 HCA Healthcare facilities in 16 states collected 5,887 pounds of unused and expired medications at nationwide “Crush the Crisis” events.
Opioid addiction is a national health crisis. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 67,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2018, with more than half attributed to opioids.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid addiction continues to be a crisis not only in the Kansas City area, but across our nation,” says HCA Midwest Health Chief Medical Officer Kimberly Megow, M.D. “Our goal for ‘Crush the Crisis’ is to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid addiction and educate our community about the proper disposal of these medications. Opioid addiction can happen to anyone, and we are providing this drop-off opportunity, confidentially and anonymously. We’re pleased to offer four locations throughout Kansas City to safely dispose of unused and expired opioids.”
Stress related to the pandemic may be exacerbating the opioid crisis by causing many Americans to have feelings of anxiety, grief, isolation, financial worry and an ongoing sense of uncertainty. For every 10 suspected overdoes reported to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) in May 2019, 14 overdoses were reported in May 2020. Since the pandemic began, 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality, according to the American Medical Association (AMA).
Law enforcement officers from various Kansas City-area and local police departments will be collecting:
Tablets, capsules and patches of Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), Tramadol (Ultram), Codeine, Fentanyl (Duragesic), Morphine, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and Oxymorphone (Opana).
Not accepted: needles, syringes, lancets or liquids.
To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare 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 $500,000 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 35 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 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 and, importantly, up to a 50.8% decrease in opioid use in data collected from 124,000 major abdominal, joint, gynecologic oncology, spinal and bariatric surgeries from January 2018 to August 2020.
ALTernatives to Opioids in the Emergency Room (ALTO in the ER): a multi-modal approach to acute pain management, which focuses on alternative medication to hit various pain receptors as a first line treatment for common painful conditions. Initial results of ALTO pilot programs demonstrate a 36% reduction in opioid administrations.
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 record (EHR) providing data that will allow them to prescribe opioids judiciously.
