HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will take applications to grow and distribute medical marijuana over the next couple of months with hopes of having the system up and running by mid-2018, health officials said Wednesday.

Health Secretary Karen Murphy said permit applications for dispensaries and for grower-processors will be available online starting Jan. 17. The monthlong application period will begin Feb. 20 for the first phase, which involves up to 12 grower-processor permits and as many as 27 dispensary licenses.

The Health Department is dividing up the permits among six regions, with the southeastern part of the state around Philadelphia slated to get the most dispensary licenses — up to 10. Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, will get as many as five.

The state’s Office of Medical Marijuana now has eight employees, including a liaison who has begun meeting with patients.

About 5,000 people have provided public comments on the program, most commonly listing pain and post-traumatic stress as their qualifying medical conditions, officials said.