​On Saturday, October 26th, law enforcement entities participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) national drug take back day, resulting in 146 lbs. of unused or expired medication collected for disposal. Urbana Police Division in partnership with Kroger, the Champaign County Drug Free Youth Coalition, Mary Rutan Hospital, and the U.S. DEA collected 37 lbs. of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Across the county, the Mechanicsburg Police Department collected 109 lbs. from the villages of Mechanicsburg and North Lewisburg.

If you happened to miss the event, but need to dispose of medication, please visit one of the five local drug drop boxes. Drug drop boxes are located at the Champaign County Sheriff's Office, Mercy Health Urbana Hospital (near emergency room entrance), Urbana Police Department, St. Paris Police Department, and Mechanicsburg Police Department. If you are unable to dispose of medications at a drop box location, or if no disposal instructions are given on the prescription drug labeling, the Drug Enforcement Agency recommends following these simple steps to throw the drugs in the household trash:
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1. Remove the medicine from its original container and mix it with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter.
2. Place the mixture in a sealable bag, empty bag, or other container to prevent medicine from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.

Do not flush medicines down the sink or toilet unless the prescription drug labeling or patient information that accompanied the medicine specifically instructs you to do so. Please also ensure you are compliant with your community’s laws and regulations prior to taking such action. For more information, please visit: www.ccfcfc.org/drug-free-youth-coalition

Introduction/Background
​A Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is a “systematic effort to address issues identified by [an] assessment and community health improvement process.”1 Logan county’s Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is based on data gathered from Logan County communities through the community health assessment and extensive input from over 90 community leaders and residents. The Community Health Assessment (CHA) created a picture of the needs of Logan County, identified community and data strengths and challenges, and provided information for next steps to improve the quality of life and health in Logan County.

Purpose of the CHIP
The purpose of the Logan County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is to guide the efforts participating organizations will engage over the next several years to improve the quality of life and health of Logan County residents. The focus of this CHIP is to develop a roadmap to improve a wide range of quality of life issues for the residents of Logan County that is not restricted to addressing only disease conditions.

The CHIP process is typically led by the health department or hospital and involves many other organizations as well as residents. Through the process the major health needs of a community are documented and identified, and a set of priorities are agreed on by all the participants. For each of the priorities, specific strategies that are designed to address the priorities in order to improve the community’s health and well-being.

​This community health improvement plan was developed by a team that consisted of several community health and social service organizations that serve Logan County residents. The team included representatives from Mary Rutan Hospital, Logan County Health District, United Way, Community Health and Wellness Partners of Logan County, and Mental Health Drug & Alcohol Services Board for Logan and Champaign Counties. Extensive input was obtained in the development of the plan from over 90 community leaders and residents. 

Click to download and read the full 2019-21 Logan County CHIP.

On Saturday, October 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Bellefontaine Police Department in partnership with Logan County CORE, Mary Rutan Hospital, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your pills for disposal to the canopy entrance of Mary Rutan Hospital, located at 205 E Palmer Rd. The site cannot accept liquids. Needles/sharps, pills and patches will be accepted. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Mary Rutan Hospital is providing sharps disposal at no cost as a community service.

Last fall Americans turned in nearly 469 tons (more than 937,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 11.8 million pounds—approximately 5,900 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 26 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or https://www.logancountycore.com/