‘We can’t allow this youth mental health crisis to worsen’: Newton Memorial Hospital gets $750K for behavioral health services
Newton. U.S. Rep. Gottheimer said the hospital will build a $1.83 million state-of-the-art behavioral health suite in the emergency department that will include five private rooms in a safe, secure area and an overflow area to accommodate surges.
Newton Medical Center has seen an increasing need in the community for behavioral health services. There has been a significant spike in youth mental health crises in New Jersey, including increased youth emergency room visits related to mental health, and a rise in student suicides nationwide. The pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis, including a significant spike in drug use.
At the hospital on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced $750,000 in new federal investment for the hospital’s Behavioral Health Department Renovations Project. This bipartisan investment, signed into law by President Biden last week, will help Newton Medical Center create a state-of-the-art emergency department behavioral health suite that includes more rooms — increasing access to care for patients and expanding clinical team capabilities.
“We simply can’t allow this youth mental health crisis to worsen,” said Gottheimer. “Today, thankfully, we are clawing back necessary investment to ensure Sussex County has even higher-quality behavioral health services. Our health care workers always have our backs when we need them most. We must make sure we always have theirs, so they can focus on providing the best care possible to our community. This new federal investment will do just that.”
The behavioral health suite
When the number of behavioral health patients exceeds the two dedicated rooms available, those patients move to other emergency department rooms, or are forced to wait in hallways.
A $1.83 million state-of-the-art emergency department behavioral health suite will fix that. It will include five private rooms in a safe, secure area and an adjacent overflow area to accommodate surges.
The rooms will be designed to meet the increasing volume and lengths of stay in the emergency department. Clinical teams will have direct sight into each room, through workstations with glass dividers.
During the pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a rise in mental health emergency room visits by 24% and 31% in children 5 to 11 years and 12 to 17 years old, respectively. According to current estimates — 1 in 5 people — including more than one million people total in New Jersey — have been diagnosed with a mental illness. And deaths from drug overdose have increased in New Jersey from 16.7 per 100,000 in 2015 to 32 per 100,000 in 2020.
“The Congressman has been a champion of Newton Medical Center during his time in Washington and especially over the last two years,” said Atlantic Health Western Region Chief Medical Officer Dr. Geralda Xavier. “Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Congressman has been a constant support of our teams, ensuring that our team members have the necessary resources and tools to combat this once in a lifetime pandemic.”