Hospitals across HCA Healthcare's Mountain Division come together to "Crush the Crisis"
HCA Healthcare hospitals in Alaska, Idaho and Utah took part in the 7th annual “Crush the Crisis” prescription drug take back event on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Hospital colleagues and local law enforcement partners collected a record 1,220 pounds of expired and unused medications across 11 collection sites from Anchorage, Alaska, to Payson, Utah.
The event was held in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, to help raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications.
“As part of our commitment to serving Utahns, Idahoans and Alaskans, we are proud to provide a safe way for families to get unused and expired medications out of their homes," said Janet Zarndt, vice president of pharmacy services for HCA Healthcare's Mountain Division.
The Mountain Division is an award-winning network with roughly 100 sites of care in the three western states. Nine of its hospitals and two of its satellite emergency centers hosted drop-off locations in partnership with local law enforcement agencies. Alaska Regional Hospital collected 322 pounds, Idaho’s West Valley Medical Center collected 93 pounds, and the nine collection sites associated with Utah’s MountainStar Healthcare network took in a total of 805 pounds.
“We’re so grateful to the law enforcement agencies and the teams at these 11 locations who protect the community from the dangers of drug misuse by participating in Crush the Crisis,” Zarndt added.
These Mountain Division hospitals are part of HCA Healthcare, which uses data from 44 million annual patient interactions to help reduce prescription drug misuse and transform pain management. This includes initiatives in surgical, emergency and other care settings, such as:
- 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.
In total, facilities across HCA Healthcare have now collected more than 108,500 pounds of medication since launching “Crush the Crisis” in 2019. That includes more than 4,710 pounds collected at the Mountain Division’s care locations over that span.