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Health department outlines opioid‑settlement spending plan; committee to issue RFP for treatment support
Summary
San Juan County has received distributor‑settlement funds and used early allocations to buy naloxone and assemble "next step" kits; county health staff and the prosecutor's office said roughly $320,000 has been received so far, and the county's internal committee plans an RFP to fund material supports for people seeking opioid treatment.
San Juan County Health and Community Services and the county prosecutor updated the San Juan County Council on June 9, 2025, about funds and proposed uses from distributor components of opioid litigation settlements. Staff reported early purchases of naloxone and plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to support treatment access.
Mark Tompkins, director of health and community services, said the county had signed onto distributor settlement participation years earlier and has received varying payments since 2023. Tompkins said the county’s internal opioid settlement committee — which includes health staff, the prosecutor’s office and public safety representatives — has collected roughly $320,000 in settlement funds to date and has spent a small fraction of that on immediate response items.
Tompkins said the county purchased and distributed naloxone: “We purchased 121 kits. We distributed those to 6 entities,” including the Sheriff’s Office, emergency medical services and local fire districts. The county also assembled 117 “next step” kits (a sharps container with naloxone and information) that were distributed to courts, EMS, fire districts and behavioral health partners. He said those purchases and modest staff time totalled less than the first $17,500 initial distribution and that the larger pot remains available for planned programming.
Tompkins said the internal committee has drafted an RFP to provide material supports to people actively seeking opioid treatment — assistance meant to reduce barriers such as housing instability or immediate needs during treatment — and that the committee hopes to put approximately $100,000 per year for the next two years into such a program. He said eligible clients would need an agreed treatment plan and a provider partner; payments would be administered through qualified treatment partners, not county staff performing individual benefit administration.
Amy Vera, San Juan County prosecuting attorney, added background about the litigation timeline and noted settlement flows vary by defendant and over time. Both Tompkins and Vera said settlement funds are restricted to uses tied to opioid‑related services per the distributor settlement terms and that the county maintains a public dashboard of core strategies and spending on the county website.
The council did not vote on any appropriation at the meeting; the health department’s next steps are to finalize the RFP, seek applications from local and regional providers and present recommended awards to the county when selections are complete.
