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Allegheny County health officials are expanding access to Narcan through publicly accessible dispensers, cabinets on college campuses and a new weatherproof vending machine as part of a broader effort to reduce overdose deaths and make the life-saving drug more accessible in public spaces and on college campuses.
The initiative, funded in part through the CDC’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) grant, builds on a pilot program launched last year that brought free naloxone dispensers to sites across the county, including universities and community health centers.
The OD2A grant funded the acquisition of the physical housing units while the Narcan is provided by the Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Program (POPP).
The publicly accessible dispensers are located at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny, Homewood and Downtown branches as well as JADE Wellness Center on the Southside, Positive Pathways in the West End and Connected Community in East Pittsburgh.
“Our goal is to make sure people can get Narcan when and where they need it,” said Katie Wooten, the county’s Overdose Prevention Program manager. “We’ve learned a lot from the first round of machines and now we’re installing an all-weatherproof one Downtown.”
Wooten said the location of the Downtown machine be made public once it is operational.
Naloxone is an overdose prevention drug commonly known by the brand name Narcan. Several other naloxone dispensers have been installed across the county over the past year.
Throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, Narcan has become more accessible, public health officials in the counties say. In Lawrence, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, and Clarion counties, the anti-overdose drug naloxone is available for free in public spaces such as schools, hospitals, factories, and libraries.
One of the first host sites in Allegheny County was JADE Wellness on the South Side.
The machine was popular and broke within a week of its installation, JADE Wellness co-founder Alex Perla said last year. A replacement broke as well.
“It was a learning curve,” Wooten said. “We took that lesson and made sure the new Downtown machine will withstand all of Pittsburgh’s weather.”
Chatham University nurse Hayden Barns has been stocking a Narcan cabinet over the last 11 months.
The cabinet is located in the Carriage House, which housed Andrew Mellon’s horses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is now a student lounge open 24/7.
“Having this cabinet has definitely brought awareness to students about what Narcan is and how they can use it,” Barns said. “We have always had it in the university health center, but this allows for 24/7 access.”
Students have begun stocking Narcan in other locations around campus on their own, relocating the Narcan from the cabinet in the Carriage House, she said
“It would be great to eventually have it in all of the residence halls,” Barns said.
Zach Aaron, a resident assistant in Chatham’s Woodland Hall, said the program has made the university community more aware of overdose prevention.
“As an RA, Narcan accessibility on campus is definitely important for me to be educated on,” Aaron said. “Every year the school does an optional Narcan training...It’s good to know we have resources for students available on campus.”
The University of Pittsburgh has also installed Narcan cabinets in several campus buildings: Posvar Hall’s second floor, Litchfield Towers lobby, the William Pitt Union and the Fitzgerald Field House.
Charles Guthrie, executive director of Student Health Services at the University of Pittsburgh, told The Pitt News in an article published in January that, “The providing of this medication lowers the barrier of access. The safety and well-being of our students is our first priority.”
According to county data, 90.9% of individuals who received EMS-administered naloxone in September 2025 survived long enough to be transported to the hospital for further care.
Wooten said the CDC funding allows the county to respond flexibly to community needs. “It doesn’t dictate like, ‘you have to do this or that,’” she said. “We make proposals and adjust as we learn where the greatest needs are.”
In addition to the public dispensers, naloxone remains available for free through the county’s Harm Reduction website and through several university police departments.
“I hope at least students who aren’t familiar with Narcan can have the opportunity through this program to learn what it is,” Barns said. “It’s something that can save someone’s life.”
The county’s ongoing expansion of naloxone access comes as state lawmakers move to make the harm-reducing drug more widely available across Pennsylvania. A bill introduced in the state Senate this month by Sens. Christine Tartaglione and Nikil Saval, both Democrats from Philadelphia, would require all high schools to keep opioid reversal medication on hand and ensure at least one trained staff member is present daily.
If passed, it would mark the first statewide guarantee of naloxone access in every high school, signaling a broader shift toward normalizing harm-reduction strategies in both education and community settings.
Michelangelo Pellis is an intern with the newsroom for the fall semester. He is a fourth-year digital journalism major at Point Park University. He has served as news editor of The Globe, the university’s student-run newspaper, and as editor of the Point Park News Service. He can be reached at mpelli@pointpark.edu.
Kyle Ferreira an intern with the newsroom. He is a journalist and photographer with experience in both print and visual storytelling. He also is an intern for WESA and writes for the Communiqué, the student-run newspaper at Chatham University.
The PMP Newsroom is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.
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