SALEM — With the opioid crisis still raging throughout the nation, LewisGale Regional Health System facilities in Southwest Virginia will either host or join other area organizations in “Crush the Crisis,” an opioid drug take-back day, which will allow the community to safely dispose of unused or expired opioid medications.
The drug take-back collection sites will be available on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Employees at LewisGale Hospital Alleghany are teaming up with other area businesses to offer collection sites at the following locations:
• Kroger/CVS, Clifton Forge, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Walmart, Covington, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Food City
“Stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic may be exacerbating the opioid crisis by causing Americans to have feelings of anxiety, grief, social isolation, financial worry, and general uncertainty, all of which can affect those with substance use disorders and those at risk of developing one,” said Dr. Cooper, chief medical officer of LewisGale Medical Center. “Now, more than ever, it’s critically important to get unused pain medications out of homes and to educate the community about the serious threat of opioid misuse and abuse.”
Crush the Crisis
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.
Law enforcement officers will be on site at each corresponding facility to assist with the collection and disposal of unused medications.
In 2018, nearly 15,000 people died from an overdose that included prescription opioids, and a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that visits for non-fatal opioid overdoses more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 in one emergency department in Virginia.
To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of LewisGale Regional Health System which is also part of HCA Virginia hospitals, 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.
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.
For more information, please call (833) 582-1970.
About HCA Virginia
As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive provider network, HCA Virginia Health System operates 14 hospitals, 29 outpatient centers, five free-standing emergency rooms, and two urgent care centers and is affiliated with 3,000 physicians.
It is one of Virginia’s largest employers, provides $190.8 million in charity and uncompensated care and pays $72.6 million in taxes annually.
To learn more, visit: https://hcavirginiahealthsystem.com/.
The Virginian Review has been serving Covington, Clifton Forge, Alleghany County and Bath County since 1914.
