SEPTEMBER 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The operators of Bergen Regional Medical Center have applied for state approval to add 10 beds to its drug- and alcohol-detoxification unit in the face of an epidemic of heroin-related cases in North Jersey.
News of the move came less than two weeks after three freeholders urged Bergen County Executive James Tedesco to “pursue a dialogue” with the private operator of the county-owned hospital in Paramus to expand its 54-bed detox unit.
Bergen Regional CEO Susan Mendelowitz responded in an Aug. 26 letter to Tedesco, noting that the hospital had already applied to add 10 more beds to the unit. She said the additional beds were in response to what she called “the intensity of the drug and alcohol epidemic we face.”
She also noted that the hospital has two other longer-term units, including one for patients who also have mental-health disorders plus an outpatient treatment program for substance abuse.
“I believe we are all on the same page with our commitment to provide appropriate care and treatment options for this ever increasing epidemic,” she wrote.
Tedesco spokeswoman Alicia D’Alessandro called the hospital’s decision “a step in the right direction.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/hospital-seeks-ok-to-expand-detox-unit-1.1404681
