On Saturday, September 7, Parkridge Medical Center will host "Crush the Crisis," an opioid take back event. In partnership with the Hamilton County Coalition, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Chattanooga Police Department, law enforcement officers will be on site to assist with the collection and disposal of unused medications from 10 am until 1 pm.
In 2017, the latest year for which opioid-related mortality statistics are available, there were 1,269 overdose deaths involving opioids in Tennessee. Insert local statistic on opioid-related death rates in the state. The state's mortality rate - 19.3 deaths per 100,000 persons - is higher than the national rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 persons, according to the CDC.
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.
Parkridge 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 Hamilton County, but across our nation," said Timothy M. Grant, MD, MBA, chief medical officer of Parkridge Health System. "Our goal for 'Crush the Crisis' is to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid addiction and assist our community in the proper disposal of these medications."
To further help combat the nation's opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of Parkridge 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 Parkridge Medical Center at 2333 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37404, in the Plaza 2 parking lot. For more information contact MedLine® at (423) 622‑6848.