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3 Bergen County freeholders ask Bergen Regional Medical Center to expand drug detox unit

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AUGUST 24, 2015, 5:31 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015, 7:40 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Three Bergen County freeholders want the private operator of the county-owned Bergen Regional Medical Center to expand its drug detoxification unit to help deal with the epidemic of heroin addiction in the county.

But hospital officials say they have already taken the first steps toward increasing the 54 beds currently available for short-term treatment of recovering drug and alcohol addicts.

The issue comes at a time when the heroin-related deaths in Bergen County have spiked. The New Jersey Medical Examiners office reported in June that there were 42 heroin-related deaths in 2014, a 61 percent increase over 2013 and the third largest increase of any county in the state.

Freeholders Thomas Sullivan, Joan Voss and Tracy Zur sent a letter Thursday to County Executive James Tedesco asking him to “pursue a dialog” with Bergen Regional officials about expanding services.

“We are all well aware of the heroin epidemic in our midst,” the freeholders wrote. “We have attended too many funerals for people who have lost their battles to addiction.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/3-bergen-county-freeholders-ask-bergen-regional-medical-center-to-expand-drug-detox-unit-1.1397674

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