Story highlights Philadelphia is encouraging private organizations to fund and establish supervised places for people to use drugs

Supervised injection sites have been shown to reduce overdose deaths and infections like HIV

(CNN) Philadelphia is welcoming private organizations to set up medically supervised drug injection sites amid an unprecedented rise in overdose deaths in recent years, city officials announced Tuesday.

The walk-in facilities would also offer access to sterile needles, the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, wound care and referral to social services.

There are currently no legally sanctioned supervised injection sites in the United States.

"Incidents of overdose have steadily increased to an alarming degree," Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Tuesday, describing the city's move as a "bold action to help save lives."

In 2016, the city recorded 907 overdose deaths, more than 80% of which involved opioids like heroin and fentanyl, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. This number is double what it was in 2013.