Monongahela Valley Hospital Is a Permanent Drug Take-Back Site

Do you have bottles of pills that you no longer take as well as expired ointments or over-the-counter medications lining the shelves of your medicine cabinet? Now, you can dispose of those items safely and keep them from getting into the wrong hands. Monongahela Valley Hospital recently became an authorized Drug-Take-Back site with the installation of a secure receptacle in the Waiting Room of the Emergency Department. The locked container is accessible 24/7. In addition, the service is free and anonymous.

"We've been partnering with the Carroll Township Police Department for many years to make it as safe and convenient as possible for local residents to dispose of expired, unused and unwanted drugs," said Louis J. Panza Jr., president and CEO of Monongahela Valley Hospital. "The safe disposal of medications is important because it helps to reduce accidental overdoses in children and pets as well as illegal abuse or intentional overdoses in teens and adults."

Before disposing of the medications, all personal information should be removed or blacked out. While liquid products and creams in containers with secured lids are accepted, sharps and syringes are not accepted due to the potential posed by blood-borne diseases.

Monongahela Valley Hospital joins the following sites in the mid-Monongahela Valley area as permanent collection sites - California Police Department, California University of Pennsylvania, Carroll Township Police Department, Charleroi Regional Police Department, City of Monessen Police Department, Monongahela Police Department, Rostraver Township Police Department, Southwest Regional Police Department and West Brownsville Police Department.