Each year since 2021, more than 3,000 New Jerseyans – eight people per day on average – have died from unintentional overdoses. For those trying to escape this cycle, inpatient withdrawal management, more commonly referred to as “detox,” is often their best hope.
But in many parts of the state, wait times for a bed could be too long for someone on the edge of sobriety.
The Rutgers Center for Recovery and Wellbeing, in Plainfield, N.J., aims to help fill this need.
“In New Jersey, there is a significant need for new providers to increase access to services, particularly within the inpatient and withdrawal management sector,” said Caitlin Simpson, senior director of addiction services at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC), which partners with RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Services in offering a comprehensive network of mental health services in the state. “The Rutgers Center for Recovery and Wellbeing strives to fill the existing gap in services and the needs of the community.”
Located at the former Muhlenberg Hospital, the four-story, 20,000-square-foot renovated building in the Muhlenberg Medical Arts Complex will be led by Simpson and colleague Josephine Schettino, program director for the Center, who will oversee daily operations.
Once fully operational later this year, the center will offer holistic and integrated diagnostic and clinical care to individuals and their families affected by substance use and co-occurring disorders.
Four levels of care will be available. Twenty of the 44-bed center are designated for individuals in need of medically monitored inpatient withdrawal management services. Clients may choose to transition to one of 24 short-term inpatient beds, with therapy and round-the-clock nursing and monitoring. For those not needing withdrawal management, inpatient care will be the first step.
Following successful completion of inpatient treatment, clients will have the opportunity to transition to the center’s intensive outpatient program, which will offer up to 12 hours of group/individual therapy per week to include medication management and case management services, in addition to traditional outpatient services. For those individuals who live a distance from the Plainfield location, appropriate referrals will be made for outpatient care in their home communities.
The key to the center’s success will be accessibility, said Simpson, adding that the access team will try to schedule clients within 72 hours of contact, if not immediately.
“When someone calls seeking treatment and is experiencing withdrawal symptoms, they often will require the support and interventions from our medical team, and quick access to treatment can be a world of difference for the overall success of the individual,” Simpson said.
Rutgers purchased the building in May 2020, and a certificate of occupancy was issued by the city in June 2022. Rutgers assumed title of the building in November 2022. Construction of the complex is now complete. The center is currently licensed for outpatient and intensive outpatient care and is awaiting licensure for medically monitored withdrawal management and short-term inpatient treatment.
Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care operates substance use disorder treatment services to include intensive outpatient and traditional outpatient programs in New Brunswick, Newark, Cherry Hill and a small program at the Middlesex County Jail. The addition of the Plainfield center will enable Rutgers to provide services to clients across New Jersey with the goal to seamlessly coordinate ongoing care as clinically indicated upon completion of treatment.
“With the Rutgers Center for Recovery and Wellbeing, we will have a great opportunity to support individuals and loved ones on their path to an improved quality of life and long-term recovery,” Simpson said.
