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Allegheny County Council

EMS providers get a faster path to $1 million in opioid settlement relief.

Written by Amy Whipple

Allegheny County is ready to disburse money from the opioid settlement fund to emergency medical services (EMS) after nearly a year of planning.

 The money has been sitting since December of last year when council set aside $1 million to “provide badly needed assistance to the region’s EMS providers, which incurred significant expense in responding to opioid-related emergency calls,” according to legislation approved by council during its Sept. 22 meeting. 

Earlier this year, council established an application process including a list of how the money can be used for the 32 members of the Allegheny County Emergency Medical Services Council.

Council Member Suzanne Filiaggi of Franklin Park said during the Sept. 22 meeting that the new legislation gives a wider array of possible expenditures and simplifies the applications. 

“The latter change greatly streamlines the award process; it also reduces the county’s time and costs related to administering the program,” she said. She compared the amended disbursement procedure to how the county released pandemic relief funds.

According to the settlement spending database, the county has otherwise disbursed $25,480,604 — almost 50% of the total budget — since it began receiving payments in 2022. Spending categories range from supporting people involved in the criminal justice system to pregnant or parenting women to harm reduction and opioid-misuse prevention.

EMS disbursements can begin as soon as County Executive Sara Innamorato signs the legislation.

Connections to this story

Elected officials:
Suzanne Filiaggi
Governments:
Allegheny County Council
Public meetings:
County Council · September 22, 2026
Sources:
Ordinance 14074-26 — amending Ordinance 11-26-OR in order to clarify the protocol for distributing funding pursuant to the appropriations…

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