Dane County Adds Naloxone Vending Machines in Sun Prairie and Stoughton

Dane County placed two new harm reduction vending machines outside Dane County's larger cities this week, one at the Sunshine Place community resource hub in Sun Prairie and one at the emergency department entrance of Stoughton Health, extending a program that had operated only inside Madison. County Executive Melissa Agard unveiled the machines on Tuesday with representatives of both host organizations.

The machines dispense without payment. Supplies include doses of naloxone, fentanyl test strips, socks, sharps containers, feminine hygiene products and gun locks, which Dane County Emergency Management replenishes with the help of local partners.

Nearly 1,200 naloxone packages so far

The two Madison machines, stationed outside the UW Hospital emergency department and St. Mary's Hospital, have distributed nearly 1,200 packages of naloxone since April 2025, according to the county. Both are maintained by Dane County Emergency Management, as are the two new machines; three further vending machines in the county are run by other agencies.

"We are proud to be expanding this life-saving initiative that has already helped distribute thousands of harm reduction items to people through other locations in Madison," Agard said. "This ongoing initiative seeks to reduce the stigma for people who use drugs and their loved ones seeking access to naloxone, which can help save a life."

Where the sites came from

Dane County Emergency Management's Emergency Medical Services Division chose Sun Prairie and Stoughton after reviewing local overdose data alongside existing access to harm reduction supplies.

"While many harm reduction resources are available in Madison, we wanted to examine the surrounding municipalities to ensure their needs were not being overshadowed," said Emergency Management Director Charles Tubbs. "That analysis showed increases in the number of suspected overdose responses by EMS in certain parts of each city."

The county's opiate settlement coordinator, Felicia Behnke Shaw, said the specific addresses were chosen to link the machines to organizations already in contact with people who need them. Sunshine Place, at 18 Rickel Road, is a community resource hub that had been assembling basic-needs services in one place, and Stoughton Health brings patients through several levels of care at 900 Ridge Street.

"Selecting Sunshine Place connects the machine in Sun Prairie with an organization that's already active in meeting the basic needs of their community," Behnke Shaw said. "Stoughton Hospital brings in many individuals through various levels of care; therefore, placing the vending machine here has a larger impact by reaching more community members of Dane County."

The host organizations, for their part, described the machines as an addition to work they were already doing. "We are grateful to host this resource on our campus and appreciate Dane County's efforts to make these supplies available," said Ann Maastricht, executive director of Sunshine Place. Tony Ketterer, environment of care manager at Stoughton Health, said the hospital was pleased to join the Madison sites.

Who pays — and what it does not measure

The two machines were purchased with county opiate settlement funds. Their staffing is not a separate line item either: the county says the machines are maintained by settlement-funded employees who also work with community partners to keep them stocked.

Naloxone reverses an opioid overdose within minutes by displacing opioids from the receptors that suppress breathing, and it has become the standard item in public distribution programs as illicit fentanyl has made the supply more lethal. Vending machines are one of several delivery models, alongside naloxone distribution through pharmacies, schools and first responders.

What the county has not published is how often the new machines are used. The Madison figure counts packages dispensed over roughly 18 months at two locations; there is no comparable number yet for Sun Prairie or Stoughton, and no measure of how many of the people who take a naloxone package have used it on someone else or enrolled in treatment afterward. The county said it will keep the machines supplied and track use as part of the wider overdose prevention program run with Public Health Madison and Dane County.

People who want help with opioid use disorder can call the national SAMHSA help line at 1-800-662-4357, which operates around the clock.