CARTERSVILLE MEDICAL CENTER TO HOST “CRUSH THE CRISIS” OPIOID TAKE BACK DAY ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
On Saturday, September 7, Cartersville Medical Center will host “Crush the Crisis,” an opioid take back event. Law enforcement officers from the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office will be on site to assist with the collection and disposal of unused medications from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2017 there were 1,014 overdose deaths involving opioids in Georgia—a rate of 9.7 deaths per 100,000 persons, compared to the national rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 persons.
The greatest increase in opioid deaths was seen in cases involving synthetic opioids (mainly fentanyl): a rise from 61 deaths in 2012 to 419 in 2017. Deaths involving heroin also increased in the same 5-year period: from 40 to 263 deaths. The highest number of deaths in 2017— 568— involved prescription opioids.
Volunteers 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). Needles, syringes, lancets or liquids will not be accepted.
Cartersville Medical Center is participating as part of HCA Healthcare’s first national “Crush the Crisis” opioid take back day. More than 65 HCA Healthcare facilities across 14 states are uniting to collect unused or expired opioids for one day.
“Opioid addiction is a growing crisis not only in Bartow County, but across our nation,” said Dr. Jay Curtin, Chief of Medical Staff at Cartersville Medical Center. “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.”
To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of Cartersville Medical Center, proudly partners with the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic, consisting of more than 50 organizations that share best practices and identify gaps in the safe treatment of opioid addiction.
A learning health system, which uses data from approximately 31 million annual patient encounters to help continuously improve care, HCA Healthcare has been using 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)/ALTernatives to Opioids in the Emergency Room (ALTO in the ER): HCA Healthcare focuses on a multi-modal approach to acute pain management. This means two or more methods or medications are used to reduce the need to use opioids to manage a patient’s pain while recovering from surgery or in the emergency room. As of August 2019, ESR is live at 140 HCA Healthcare facilities, with the goal to implement in all facilities, in at least one major service line, by the end of 2019. ALTO protocols will be expanded enterprise-wide by the end of 2019.
- Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS): Physicians have access to aggregated electronic health records that make it more difficult for medication-seekers to doctor-shop or alter prescriptions. ECPS is available across HCA Healthcare.
“Crush the Crisis” will take place at The Hope Center at Cartersville Medical Center at 100 Market Place Boulevard. The collection site will be conveniently located under a tent located near the main entrance of The Hope Center. For more information, visit
CartersvilleMedical.com or call 833.582.1970.
