Bergen New Bridge hospital unveils major ER expansion to deal with mental health crisis
As one of the largest psychiatric facilities in the state, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center's emergency room in Paramus often features a crowded hodgepodge of patients — about half seeking mental health services and the rest seeking aid for broken bones, kidney stones, heart attacks and other ailments.
That will change next year.
On Monday, hospital executives will unveil plans for a major expansion of the Bergen New Bridge emergency department that will create separate areas for those seeking mental health services and those coming in for "lumps, bumps and bruises," said Deborah Visconi, CEO of the hospital.
The project will almost triple the capacity of the existing emergency room by renovating a 10,000-foot adjacent space that houses a variety of outpatient services. Those services are being moved to another floor.
Demand for mental health services has skyrocketed across the U.S. and in New Jersey during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, as rates of anxiety and depression soared. About 55% of those coming to Bergen New Bridge's emergency room are now seeking mental health services.
Originally built more than a century ago as a hospital to isolate patients with such highly contagious diseases as polio and tuberculosis, the former Bergen Pines gradually developed one of the largest in-patient psychiatric services in New Jersey.
Most first responders across the county and elsewhere in North Jersey know to take those in crisis to Bergen New Bridge. Other hospitals also transfer patients there.
"We're not a hospital that can go on a mental health divert and send patients elsewhere," said Darian Eletto, chief clinical officer for Behavioral Health at Bergen New Bridge. "This is what we're known for."
The new emergency room will handle mental health patients and will also have an area for neurodivergent patients such as those with autism where noise and other stimulating sources are reduced. It will have separate areas for geriatric patients as well as children. The existing 12,000-square-foot emergency room will handle everything else.
Aside from segregating different patients, the expansion is also an effort to deal with overcrowding by going from 19 beds to 49. Patients in a mental health crisis have often found the busyness of the existing emergency room to worsen their symptoms. Other patients are so close to each other that confidential information can easily be heard, Visconi said.
"There's never a day that it's not full," she said.
The project is estimated to cost $9 million to $10 million, of which $6 million comes from the state Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
Dial 988 to get help
If you or your child is experiencing a mental health crisis, one of the fastest ways to reach a counselor is through the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling 988.
That will route you to counselors with the NJ Hope Line.
Other resources can be found with New Jersey Mental Health Cares at 866-202-HELP.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen New Bridge hospital unveils major ER expansion
