Public Safety

HCA Florida Destin-Fort Walton Hospital leads “Crush the Crisis” drug take-back event

HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital and HCA Florida Navarre Emergency will hold a "Crush the Crisis" prescription drug take-back day on October 26, 2024, offering safe disposal of unused medications as part of a nationwide effort to combat drug misuse.

Jared Williams

As part of a continued effort to address the prescription drug misuse crisis, two local hospitals are set to host a medication take-back event this month.

HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital and HCA Florida Navarre Emergency announced they will hold their “Crush the Crisis” prescription drug take-back day on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The event aligns with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, offering community members a chance to safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired medications.

The initiative comes at a critical time. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decrease in national drug overdose deaths in the United States for the first time since 2018, prescription drug misuse remains a significant public health concern.

Dr. Dan Hagler, Chief Medical Officer of HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, highlighted the event’s importance to the community. “For more than 50 years, HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital has cared for the tri-county area, and our Crush the Crisis prescription take back day is a testament to this commitment,” Hagler said.

Residents can dispose of medications at two locations:

HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, 1000 Mar Walt Drive, Fort Walton Beach
HCA Florida Navarre Emergency, 1809 Granada Street, Navarre

Law enforcement officers from the Fort Walton Beach Police Department and Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office will be on-site to collect a wide range of prescription medications. Accepted items include tablets, capsules, and patches of various drugs such as Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Tramadol, Codeine, Fentanyl, Morphine, Hydromorphone, and Oxymorphone.

Additionally, ointments, lotions, drops, liquid medications in leak-proof containers, vape cartridges without batteries, and pet medications will be accepted. However, needles, syringes, lancets, and loose liquids will not be collected.

The local event is part of HCA Healthcare’s sixth annual national “Crush the Crisis” initiative. In the previous year, more than 120 HCA Healthcare facilities across 15 U.S. divisions participated, collecting approximately 13,136 pounds of unused and expired prescription medications, equivalent to 9.02 million doses.

HCA Healthcare, the parent company of the participating local hospitals, has implemented several initiatives to combat prescription drug misuse. These include the Enhanced Surgical Recovery (ESR) program, which uses a multi-modal approach to pain management, and the Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS) system, designed to reduce opioid-related addiction and misuse.

For more information about the “Crush the Crisis” event, community members can visit hcahealthcare.com/crushthecrisis or call the toll-free number at (833) 582-1970

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