Credit: (Max from Pixabay)In response to a shortage of psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners in the state, New Jersey lawmakers are taking steps to try to bolster the field and address a growing mental health crisis.
The Assembly Higher Education Committee on Monday endorsed a bill that would add behavioral health care residency positions to graduate medical school programs, a key step in upping the state’s psychiatrist numbers. New Jersey lacks enough psychiatrists — and, in particular, child psychiatrists — to meet the increased demand for mental health services exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There simply aren’t enough graduate medical slots available across the country to replenish the supplies,” Dr. Frank Ghinassi, the president and chief executive officer of Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care, said. “So, we think this [bill] is a good thing.”
What’s in the bill?
The bill would require the state commissioner of human services to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for federal Medicaid matching funds to expand behavioral health care residency and fellowship programs.
The residency slots would be tailored to psychiatrists who must complete a residency program before becoming licensed. “Our goal is to build out a program that enables anyone that wants to be a psychiatrist here in New Jersey to have a residency slot open for them,” said David Galpern, the legislative director for Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Burlington), the bill’s primary sponsor.
‘The vacancies are astronomical.’ — Mary Abrams, New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies
For example, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus has one of the largest psychiatric residency programs in the state, with 34 residents who rotate throughout the hospital to address the needs of people seeking inpatient and outpatient services and detox and rehabilitation services from substance use disorders, officials said.
The legislation heard in front of the Assembly Higher Education Committee on Monday is part of a larger package of bills aimed at addressing shortages in the health care workforce as a whole. Collectively, the aim of the bills is to incentivize more people to enter the health care profession in areas of critical need and to remove roadblocks to the hiring of qualified professionals.
Needs beyond additional psychiatrists
The shortage in behavioral health care providers extends beyond psychiatrists to other professionals in the field as well.
“The vacancies are astronomical,” Mary Abrams, a senior health policy analyst at the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, said of behavioral health care positions across the state that have not been filled.
A recent survey by the association found startling vacancy rates among its members. For example, the vacancy rate for advanced practice nurses was close to 50%, the survey said. That for licensed practical nurses and certified alcohol and drug counselors exceeded 50%. And there were 140 openings out of 305 positions for clinical social workers.
Some health care providers across the state are continuing to try to address the various needs. Inspira Health employs more psychiatrists, psychiatric advanced practice nurses and licensed therapists today than it did two to three years ago, according to David Moore, the associate vice president for the behavioral health service line at Inspira Health. The outpatient department is now serving over twice as many patients as it did when the pandemic started, Moore added.‘The need is simply outdistancing the ability to provide for it now.’ — Dr. Frank Ghinassi, Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care
But additional challenges remain as venture capital companies — for-profit financial companies — move into the behavioral health care field and compete for social workers, psychologists and even psychiatrists, according to Ghinassi.
“The difficulty with that is that very often these venture capital companies … really target middle- and upper-middle-class populations,” Ghinassi said. “They’re not as likely to target working with Medicaid populations.”
“I think replenishing the field with individuals who are going to be willing to treat broad and multiple populations is critical to replenish that supply,” he added. “The need is simply outdistancing the ability to provide for it now.”
