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The Hackensack Meridian Health and Carrier Clinic merger will establish New Jersey's first behavioral health urgent care centers as early as next year.
About half the increase in emergency room visits in New Jersey were related to patients’ behavioral health issues. The state is facing an opioid epidemic that is on target to claim 3,000 lives this year, up from 2,200 lives in 2016. Beyond improving care, the merger will also result in more coordinated, cost-effective care.
“There’s not great access to behavioral health care services particularly on an outpatient basis and the costs are skyrocketing," Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert C. Garrett said. "With this partnership we will address these issues.”
An urgent care facility will open in Neptune and the inpatient treatment facility will be in Bergen County, pending a lease agreement, NJ.com reports.
Hackensack Meridian will also be investing $25 million in a renovation of the century-old Carrier Clinic facility in Montgomery -- a 28-bed capacity hospital, licensed 40-bed inpatient and outpatient detox and recovery facility.
Carrier Clinic’s home in Belle Mead is a 100-acre rural campus that provides short-term, acute care hospitalization for psychiatric illness and substance abuse for adolescents 12-18, and treatment for adults 18 and older.
Carrier Clinic’s campus includes a licensed 297-bed capacity hospital; the Blake Recovery Center™, a licensed 40-bed inpatient and outpatient detox and recovery facility; East Mountain Youth Lodge, which can house up to 91 residents ages 13-18; and East Mountain School, a fully-accredited school for 120 7th-12th graders affected by behavioral and psychiatric disorders. Carrier Clinic has nearly 1,100 team members, including 26 members of the medical staff.
The joining of Hackensack Meridian Health and Carrier Clinic will provide greater access and choice to New Jersey residents who often seek treatment out of state, away from their family and support network.
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