HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland Hosts September 21 “Crush The Crisis” Drug Take-Back Day
TEXAS CITY, TX (September 6, 2019) – HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland will serve as a collection point for individuals to safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired opioid painkillers on Saturday, September 21 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. as part of the hospital’s commitment to curb the misuse and addiction to prescription pain relievers.
“Crush The Crisis” will provide individuals with the opportunity to turn in tablets, capsules and patches of Codeine, Hydrocodone, Demerol, Oxycodone, Darvon and other opioids. A drive-thru collection will be set up in the hospital’s parking lot at 6801 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway.”
This is a ‘no-questions-asked’ collection designed to safely capture and dispose of addictive prescription pain medications before they fall into the wrong hands,” says Dr. Stephen Nesbit, chief medical officer of HCA Houston Healthcare. “If you are no longer on a medication, whether or not it has expired, it needs to be removed.” The Crush the Crisis collection at HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland will be staffed by uniformed security. Needles, syringes, lancets and liquids will not be accepted.
According to a 2015 survey, the DEA stated more than 6.4 million Americans abused prescription drugs. Many of those cases, the agency study showed, involved the abuser getting pills from a family member’s or a friend’s medicine cabinet.
Prescription opioid use also is a significant risk factor or gateway to heroin addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 86 percent of young, urban injection drug users had used opioid pain relievers non-medically prior to using heroin. Their three main sources for obtaining opioids were family, friends or personal prescriptions.
For a complete list of HCA Houston Healthcare-affiliated hospitals participating in the September 21 Crush The Crisis drug take-back day, go to www.hcahealthcare.com/crushthecrisis.
About HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland
HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland has been an integral part of Galveston County for more than 60 years. It offers services in emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, physical therapy, radiology, total joint replacements, hyperbaric medicine diagnostic/imaging services and wound care facilities.
About HCA Houston Healthcare
HCA Houston Healthcare is the leading provider of healthcare in the Houston area where trained physicians, nurses and allied health professionals treat almost a million patients and provide more than $2 billion in charity care every year. With an employee base of 15,000, HCA Houston Healthcare’s comprehensive network includes 15 hospitals, nine outpatient surgery centers, eight freestanding emergency centers and 11 freestanding diagnostic imaging facilities in the greater Houston area. It also includes a regional transfer center that provides one-phone-call access and support for patient transfers into and out of HCA-affiliated facilities as well as access to ground and air transportation within a 150-mile radius. For more information, visit www.HCAHoustonHealthcare.com.
HCA Houston Healthcare is part of HCA Healthcare’s Gulf Coast Division, a comprehensive network of hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, emergency centers and diagnostic imaging facilities in greater Houston, Corpus Christi and South Texas. Facilities in the Gulf Coast Division include: 18 hospitals, nine ambulatory care centers, 12 off-campus emergency centers, and a regional transfer center that provides one phone call access and support for patient transfers into and out of the HCA Gulf Coast Division affiliated hospitals as well as access to ground and air transportation within a 150-mile radius. HCA Gulf Coast Division is part of HCA Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of quality healthcare services with 185 hospitals in the United States and England.
