Pinellas Approves $25 Million Addiction and Mental Health Urgent Care in St. Petersburg

Pinellas County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to spend $25 million in opioid settlement money on a new behavioral health urgent care center in St. Petersburg, the county's first major commitment of funds that have sat largely unused since 2023.

The contract goes to Operation PAR, the nonprofit that has run addiction and mental health programs in Pinellas for 56 years. The center will be built at 6720 54th Avenue N and operated in partnership with Evara Health, a federally qualified health center that serves patients across Tampa Bay.

What makes it different from existing care is the clock. The urgent care will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day of the week. Right now, people who depend on medication-assisted treatment to manage opioid withdrawal in Pinellas County can only get those medications on weekday mornings. For anyone in crisis on a Saturday afternoon, or after 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, options have been thin.

The center will also fold in routine primary care alongside mental health and substance use treatment. Commissioner Kathleen Peters, who sits on the county's Opioid Abatement Fund Advisory Board, said that combination reflects how physical and mental health problems tend to travel together.

Peters, describing a patient who comes in for mental health services, said that visit would also include screening for conditions like heart disease or diabetes. Operation PAR CEO Jim Miller said the nonprofit worked closely with county staff to design the project and called the opioid abatement dollars a fit for what the community needs.

Why the money sat unspent

Pinellas County has collected roughly $43 million in opioid settlement funds since 2023, money paid out by drug manufacturers and distributors as compensation for their role in the opioid crisis. Before Thursday's vote, the county had designated only about $478,000 of it, close to 1%.

That drew criticism from stakeholders who argued the money, which is earmarked specifically for treatment and prevention, wasn't reaching people who needed it. Neighboring counties had already put millions of their own settlement dollars to work. Thursday's approval brings Pinellas into line with that pace.

Peters said she wants the county to eventually build a public dashboard tracking how much money is in the opioid abatement fund, how it's being spent, and what results it produces. No timeline for that dashboard has been announced.

The county has not said when construction will start or when the urgent care is expected to open. That timeline, along with any additional opioid settlement spending the advisory board recommends next, is likely to come up at future Board of County Commissioners meetings.

Want to keep up with how Pinellas County spends its settlement dollars and other local health decisions? Visit Pinellas County Community Website for ongoing coverage, follow us on Facebook, and join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more stories like this one, check out our healthcare coverage and county government news.