Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center will participate in the annual Drug Take Back Initiative from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29, offering the community an opportunity to safely dispose of unused or expired medication.

Accepted medications include vitamins, pills and pet medications.

The center cannot accept needles, inhalers, liquids, lotions, aerosols, ointments and creams.

Unwanted or expired medications should never be disposed of in the toilet; it is harmful to the environment.

St. Rita’s offers access to a medication drop box 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week in the medical center’s Emergency Department waiting room. Since installing the Med Safe Take Back bin in the spring of 2016, St. Rita’s has collected more than 6,300 pounds of medication.

So far in 2022, more than 325 pounds of medication have been collected. Items left in the receptacles are kept secure and confidential. Some prefer to remove the label, but it is not required.