Advocacy E-news May 13, 2019

May 13, 2019

 

ELNAHAL: REPORT ON STATE’S PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS COMING SOON

The state Department of Health is set to issue a report soon on how the state’s four adult psychiatric hospitals are doing. This will be a nine-month progress report in 18-month plan comparing the beginning of the administration to now. Commissioner Shereef Elnahal told ROI-NJ the report will include a number of policies and regulatory recommendations, which would need the support of the Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy to put in place.

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SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND OTHER MENTAL-HEALTH PROBLEMS DRIVE MORE YOUTH TO EMERGENCY ROOMS

The number of children and young adults visiting the emergency department for psychiatric concerns rose 28 percent over a four-year period, and visits having to do with suicide more than doubled, according to a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics. The findings amplify concerns that the mental-health care system is failing to meet the country’s needs, forcing people to rely on emergency rooms ill-equipped to deal with psychiatric concerns.

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SHOULD BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PATIENTS BE ABLE TO GET TREATMENT IN PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS?

Making good on a commitment he made earlier in the year, state Department of Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal published guidance Monday that he hopes will allow health care providers to better serve behavioral health and substance abuse patients in the same clinical setting as primary care. In January Elnahal told ROI-NJ that the current regulations are cumbersome because they assume these health care services will only be provided in separate facilities.

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