Mobile initiative another way AtlantiCare is expanding substance use disorder and additional mental health care service for community
Mays Landing, New Jersey – “This is a moment in the history of Atlantic County where all efforts are going to be in line to make sure that we care for the community.” That’s what Lori Herndon, MBA, BSN, RN, president and CEO, AtlantiCare, shared as the healthcare organization debuted its John Brooks Recovery Center (JBRC) Mobile Outreach Vehicle (MOV). Public officials, law enforcement representatives and healthcare professionals joined AtlantiCare for a celebratorial ribbon cutting during a cermony outside the JBRC Residential Facility in Mays Landing February 21, 2023.
“Through the vehicle, we will expand the care our compassionate JBRC team is already providing in the community,” said Mike Santillo, director II, John Brooks Recovery Center, a member of AtlantiCare. “Our goal is to reach individuals where they are. By bringing care and services to them, we will enhance their access to the care, support, and other services they need and deserve.”
The JBRC mobile outreach team will travel to areas of high need and will blanket “hotspots” for substance use, overdose deaths and reversals, homelessness, and infectious diseases. They will especially focus on providing care and assistance to those facing disproportionate burdens of substance use and mental illness, including low-income individuals, persons experiencing homelessness, and other vulnerable populations in the community.
“We focus on building healhty communities together,” said Herndon. “We want to make a difference in all communities in all people’s lives. This is a great initiative to help us do so. We are grateful for our community partners and to our dedicated JBRC team.”
The New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, provided $300,000 in grant funding for the vehicle through its Mobile Access to Medications Initiative. It will provide $750,000 in additional annual funding to support JBRC’s mobile outreach efforts to increase access to medications, case management and care coordination services, and recovery support services to people with a substance use and/or mental health issue.
Municipalities AtlantiCare’s JBRC MOV team will assist include Atlantic City, Pleasantville, Galloway, Egg Harbor Township and Egg Harbor City.
JBRC MOV staff will include:
- A physician or an advanced practice nurse
- A registered nurse
- A behavioral health clinician dually licensed in social work and addictions counseling
- Two outreach coordinators with bachelor’s degrees
- Two certified peer recovery specialists
AtlantiCare plans to start serving the community through the JBRC Mobile Outreach Van in March. For more information, visit www.atlanticare.org/jbrc, or call 609-345-2020.
AtlantiCare is an integrated healthcare system based in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, whose more than 6,000 staff, providers and volunteers serve the community in more than 100 locations in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May and Ocean counties of southern New Jersey. Its vision of building healthy communities together drives its mission of making a difference in health and healing, one person at a time, through caring and trusting relationships. A Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, AtlantiCare was also included in Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work. AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center was the 105th hospital in the nation to attain the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet™ designation in 2004 and earned redesignation in 2008, 2013, in 2018. Learn more at atlanticare.org or 1-888-569-1000.
