Nashville, TN –TriStar Health will host an opioid take back event to raise awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse and proper disposal of medications on Saturday, October 24, 2020. Called “Crush the Crisis,” the event aligns with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day and invites community members to safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired prescription medications.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 2 million people in the U.S. suffered from an opioid use disorder and more than 67,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2018. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the U.S. is seeing an increase in opioid usage, with 40 states reporting increases in opioid-related mortality, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). In 2018, drug overdose deaths in Tennessee involving opioids totaled 1,307, a rate of 19.9% vs.14.6% nationally.
“Stress related to the COVID-19 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, affecting those with substance use disorders as well as those at risk of developing one,” said Tama VanDecar, M.D., TriStar Health Chief Medical Officer. “Now is more important than ever to get unused pain medications out of homes and to educate the community about the serious threat of opioid misuse.”
Law enforcement officers from the local Police Department 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. COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place at the event, including universal masking, social distancing, removal of high-touch items and a drive-through collection option.
TriStar Health is participating as part of HCA Healthcare’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.
To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of TriStar Health, 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 - 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.
“Crush the Crisis” will take place at all TriStar Health facilities on October 24th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The community is invited to safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired prescription medications at the following TriStar Health facilities:
- TriStar Centennial Medical Center
2300 Patterson Street – Nashville, TN 32703 - TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center
355 New Shackle Island Road – Hendersonville, TN 37075
*(TriStar Hendersonville will collect medications from 9:00am to 1:00pm) - TriStar Horizon Medical Center
111 Highway 70 East – Dickson, TN 37055
*(TriStar Horizon will collect medications from 9:00am to 1:00pm) - TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital
1801 Ashley Circle – Bowling Green, KY 42104 - TriStar Skyline Medical Center
3441 Dickerson Pike – Nashville, TN 37207 - TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center
391 Wallace Road – Nashville, TN 37211 - TriStar Summit Medical Center
5655 Frist Boulevard Hermitage, TN 37076 - TriStar Spring Hill ER
3001 Reserve Boulevard – Spring Hill, TN 37174
For more information, visit Crush The Crisis or call toll free number at (833) 582-1970.