Hackensack Meridian Health Opens Addiction Treatment Center to Expand Access to Behavioral Health Care and Innovate Treatment

EDISON, N.J., Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most integrated health system, is proud to announce the opening of the first phase of The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a state-of-the art treatment center in Mahwah that will offer a full range of behavioral health services.

"The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley arrives at a critical time for our state," said Robert C. Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. "We know that more people are struggling with mental health issues and addiction. In fact, it's a pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic and we are here to help.''

The first phase of The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley, which is now open, focuses on outpatient services on the 40-acre campus. A 48-bed inpatient facility and detox services are scheduled to open in 2022 to provide a full array of behavioral health care services, to be followed by an expansion to 90 beds in Phase 2 of the project a few years later.

"Our care model focuses on the integration of traditional therapy, evidence-based practice and integrative medicine to provide a modern, comprehensive approach to individualized care," said Donald J. Parker, president of Hackensack Meridian Carrier Clinic and behavioral health services for the network. "The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley is proud to offer co-occurring services in addition to medicated assisted treatment under the guidance of our medical director and licensed professionals."

Hackensack Meridian Health is committed to transforming behavioral health care by expanding access to treatment, providing more coordinated care and innovating treatment. Through the network's merger with Carrier Clinic in 2019, New Jersey's first behavioral health urgent care center was opened in Neptune to give patients an option besides emergency care for behavioral health treatment.

Hackensack Meridian Health is working to dramatically improve behavioral health care because:

• One in five adults experiences a mental health issue in the U.S.
• An estimated 50 percent of patients today who are seen in primary care offices, urgent care settings and emergency departments have a behavioral health need.
• Among those conditions, depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States among those 18 to 44 years old.
• 60 percent of people with mental health issues did not receive care in the prior year.
• A Gallup poll published in December found that Americans' self-reported mental health is at the lowest point it has been in 20 years.

In addition to the human toll, the impact of substance abuse and mental health diagnoses dramatically drives up health care costs. Depression ranks among the costliest illnesses in the U.S. and globally. The U.S. loses nearly $200 billion annually in lost productivity due to mental illness.

"We are committed to providing high-quality and accessible behavioral health care and we do not believe people should have to leave New Jersey to receive these vital services,'' Mr. Garrett said.

Individuals can enroll in outpatient programming at The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley by calling 833-734-0171. The Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley also welcomes referrals from other providers, hospitals, sober living facilities, and any other entities that would like to refer to its network of care.

"At the Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley, we understand the complexity and the pervasive nature of addiction," Parker added. "That's why we're here to support the individual seeking recovery from active substance use as well as their families. Our family programming is offered once per month, in addition to individual family sessions scheduled on an as-needed basis when clinically appropriate."

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive, and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research, and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals – Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital – Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and over 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health