HCA Healthcare to Host Seventh Annual "Crush the Crisis" National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA), one of the nation's leading healthcare providers, today announced it will host its seventh annual "Crush the Crisis" national prescription drug take back day on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. This year, HCA Healthcare facilities across the country will partner with local law enforcement to help communities safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired medications at more than 140 collection sites.
National drug overdose deaths decreased by nearly 27% in 2024 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, prescription drug misuse remains a public health crisis in the United States. Each year, in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, HCA Healthcare hosts "Crush the Crisis" events to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and the importance of proper disposal of unused or expired medications. Since 2019, HCA Healthcare has helped safely dispose of more than 88,000 pounds of unused or expired medication. This year marks another milestone in HCA Healthcare's ongoing effort to reach 100,000 pounds of safely collected medications.
"Prescription drug misuse remains a pressing public health challenge," said Dr. Randy Fagin, senior vice president and chief quality officer of HCA Healthcare. "Crush the Crisis is about more than awareness—it's about hope, action, and healing. Each year, we've stood alongside our communities, strengthening our commitment to prevention, education, and support as we work towards healthier futures for those we serve."
To help further curb the nation's opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare proudly collaborates with and provides clinical insight to the National Academy of Medicine's (NAM) Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises. Drawing on data from its approximately 44 million annual patient encounters, HCA Healthcare uses the science of "big data" to help reduce prescription drug 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, including decreases in opioid usage.
- 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 records, providing data that will allow them to prescribe opioids judiciously.
About HCA Healthcare
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services comprising 191 hospitals and approximately 2,500 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44%. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its approximately 44 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives.
All references to "Company," "HCA" and "HCA Healthcare" as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.
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