Somerset County and Zufall Health Cut Ribbon on New Medical and Dental Facility in Bridgewater
On Monday, March 13, Zufall Health celebrated the addition of Bridgewater to its roster of service locations in New Jersey. Zufall Health – Bridgewater, a 2700-square-foot facility within the Richard Hall Community Health and Wellness Center, will provide integrated medical and dental services to the clients of Richard Hall and to the surrounding community. Like all other Zufall locations, Bridgewater will serve patients regardless of insurance, income, or immigration status, and no patient will be turned away due to inability to pay.
Expected to begin seeing patients later this spring, Bridgewater will reduce critical barriers to care for people living with mental illness and substance use disorders, who are at greater risk for poor physical health outcomes. Although Zufall Health – Somerville is located 2.4 miles away, even this distance can present challenges to access and adherence to appointments. Zufall Health – Bridgewater will conveniently permit the delivery of trauma-informed care for the whole person in one location.
Read the full press release from Somerset County below:
Somerset County cut the ceremonial ribbon today on the new Zufall Health facility at the Richard Hall Community Health and Wellness Center in Bridgewater to provide primary and dental care to both the clients and residents of Somerset County. The partnership supports care coordination to ensure that Richard Hall’s mental health and substance use clients have holistic wellness plans to include body, mind and spirit care while also expanding access to Zufall Health’s services to area residents.
“For so many of our neighbors and loved ones who are dealing with mental health issues, just the process of getting the care they need can be overwhelming. Somerset County is committed to removing as many of these barriers as possible,” said Commissioner Paul Drake, liaison to Human Services. “The simple convenience for our Richard Hall clients of scheduling mental health and physical health appointments closely together in time and location can mean the difference between getting and not getting care.”
The inclusion of Zufall’s services at Richard Hall allows integrated care coordinators to provide complete health care at one location, removing barriers of travel and scheduling that often result in partial or incomplete care. The addition of Zufall Health – Bridgewater as the third Somerset County location and also expands access to high-level medical and dental care for residents of residents of surrounding communities.
Richard Hall has worked with Zufall Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center, as one of its offsite partners for the past eight years and developed an excellent working relationship over that time. Zufall’s extensive experience in providing primary medical and dental care for infants, children, adults, and older adults makes them the best partner for meeting the needs of Richard Hall clients and the larger Somerset County community.
Zufall president and CEO Frances Palm delivers remarks before the ribbon cutting. Photo credit: Somerset County.
“Zufall Health has been an outstanding partner throughout the past decade in meeting the whole health needs of our clients. During the COVID pandemic when so many people struggled and continue to struggle with mental health and substance use issues, they were responsive to our clients’ needs,” said Richard Hall Executive Director Nicci Spinazzola. “There is tremendous value in combining the two aspects of care and removing some of the barriers to the delivery these services to our clients.”
Somerset County received a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion Grant from the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration in May of 2020 that targeted growing its integrated care programs. This grant allowed Richard Hall to partner with Zufall Health to fully integrate medical, dental, mental health treatment, substance use treatment, and other wellness programs under one roof for the first time.
“Zufall Health is grateful to partner with Richard Hall Community Health & Wellness Center to establish our third service location in Somerset County and 14th statewide,” said Frances Palm, President & Chief Executive Officer, Zufall Health. The new space will enable us to bring our nationally recognized medical and dental services to people who receive behavioral health care at Richard Hall, their families, and nearby residents, while expanding our capacity to provide integrated, affordable, and high-quality health care to vulnerable people in New Jersey.”
About Richard Hall Community Health and Wellness Center
Richard Hall is a public, not for profit behavioral healthcare system operated by Somerset County providing mental health and substance use treatment to children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. In 1983 the facility was opened at its present location in Bridgewater and was named in honor of the County’s first Mental Health Administrator, Richard Hall. In 2009 the Center completed a renovation and addition project that doubled the physical plant in size to 50,000 square feet.
Top image: Left to right: Nicci Spinazzola, Executive Director, Richard Hall; Matthew D. Loper, Engineer, Somerset County; Valerie Mielke, Assistant Commissioner, New Jersey Division of Mental Health & Addiction Services; Frances Palm, Zufall Health President and CEO; Sarah Adelman, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Human Services; Paul Drake, Somerset County Commissioner; Colleen Mahr, Somerset County Administrator; Michael Frost LCSW, ACSW, Director, Department of Human Services at Somerset County; Doug Singleterry, County Commissioner, Somerset County. Photo credit: Somerset County.