West Valley to host "Crush the Crisis" to help combat opioid crisis

West Valley Medical Center will host "Crush the Crisis", an opioid take back event, on Saturday, September 7. Law enforcement officers from the Caldwell Police Department will be on site to assist with the collection and disposal of unused medications from 10 am until 1 pm.

West Valley 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.

According to the Idaho Bureau of Vital Statistics, one Idahoan dies every 36 hours as the result of a drug overdose.

"Opioid addiction is a growing crisis not only in our state, but across our nation," said Betsy Hunsicker, West Valley Chief Executive Officer. "Our goal for 'Crush the Crisis' is to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid addiction and provide an opportunity for our community to properly dispose of these medications."

The collection site will be conveniently located at the main entrance of the hospital, allowing for community members to drive-thru and drop-off medications. Law enforcement officers 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.

To further help combat the nation's opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare, the parent company of West Valley 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.

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: HCA Healthcare/West Valley Medical Center 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.
• 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.
• Controlling pain with technology: Patients recovering from surgery are benefiting from an innovative technology at West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell, Idaho - the first in the state of Idaho to have it. The technology is a non-pharmaceutical solution for multimodal treatment of pain. Nationwide, it has proven to reduce discomfort in 83 percent of patients in a clinical setting.
• Opioid Addiction Resources: West Valley has devoted a webpage to help those seeking resources. It also includes more information about what West Valley is doing to help crush the crisis.

"Crush the Crisis" will take place at West Valley Medical Center, 1717 Arlington Avenue, Caldwell, Idaho 83605. For more information call 833-682-1970.