ORANGE PARK – HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital in cooperation with Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Clay Action Coalition will be hosting a prescription drug take-back day this Saturday, April 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will provide a quick, safe and easy way for people to dispose of expired and unwanted medication.

The hospital hosts the event twice a year to help educate the community on the risk of opioid misuse while providing a safe and anonymous way to dispose of left-over medications. Dr. Jodie Graves, HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital’s Director of Pharmacy, says access to medication in the home is a major source of unintentional pediatric poisonings. In some cases, it only takes one pill to create a tragic event for an infant or toddler. Each year approximately 6,000 emergency visits nationwide are related to children under the age of 6 ingesting medication without the oversight of an adult.

Unused opioids thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or sold illegally, and flushing medications down the toilet pose potential health and environmental hazard. The hospital said the safest and most responsible option to dispose of medication is to bring it to an event like this and urges the community to take advantage of having a safe place to dispose of their extra medication.

The drop-off process is a quick, easy and drive-by style located outside of HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital’s emergency room located at 2001 Kingsley Ave. Participants will be greeted by a team that is specially trained to handle prescription drugs.