Last week, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) issued a notice inviting CN applications to establish new adult acute psychiatric beds under N.J.A.C. 8:33-4.1(a)(2).  Recognizing national trends, such as the increasing number of individuals diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, the fact that nearly 750,000 New Jersey adults are receiving mental health treatment and more than 957,000 New Jersey adults are getting substance abuse treatment, and the fact that Governor Christie has supported legislation that would require health insurers to pay without prior authorization for up to six months of inpatient treatment, the Department has established a bed need of 40 adult psychiatric beds per 100,000 adults. Applications are due by May 1, 2017.

Using the 40 beds/100,000 adults- bed need methodology, the NJDOH has determined that there is a need for additional adult acute care psychiatric beds in the following counties:

As a corollary, NJDOH has determined that there is no need for additional psych beds in the following counties:  Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Mercer, Somerset, and Union Counties.

Some considerations for potential applicants:

• Any licensed acute care psychiatric bed can be used for patients who have mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders.

• An applicant may apply for some or all of the beds allocated to the applicant’s county, as well as those beds allocated to counties that are contiguous to the applicant’s county.

• Each application must designate how many open beds and how many closed beds the applicant is seeking, and must demonstrate why the proposed allocation of beds is appropriate.

• Applicants must accept a certificate of need condition that requires them to provide up to five percent of annual patient days in each approved bed category to serve Medicaid recipients, and up to another five percent of annual patient days in each approved bed category to serve the uninsured.

• The NJDOH Department will give special consideration to proposals including one or more of the following:

  • A regional approach to address the mental health and co-occurring substance use disorder needs of multiple counties or regions, including both inpatient and outpatient services;

  • An approach that provides adult acute care and outpatient mental health and co-occurring substance use disorder services in one or more of the counties that currently have no adult acute care psychiatric beds (Cape May County, Salem County, or Warren County); and

  • Innovative ways to provide treatment to patients who have mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders.