Center for Comprehensive Addiction Treatment, “No Wrong Door”

By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Center for Comprehensive Addiction Treatment, “No Wrong Door”

Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., established the Center for Comprehensive Addiction Treatment (CCAT) in response to an increase in patients returning to the hospital for addiction treatment post-discharge. The Center aims to expand availability and access to withdrawal management services and overall substance use disorder treatment.   

The Medical Center offers numerous levels of care, including involuntary and voluntary crisis units, withdrawal management, and short-term residential care, allowing a “No Wrong Door” approach that supports immediate direct patient access. The multidisciplinary team consists of psychiatrists, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and substance use disorder staff. CCAT offers peer recovery specialists who model what recovery could look like for patients. The program mitigates social determinants of health by tackling food security, housing, and transportation—barriers to successful treatment for many patients—and focuses on expanding accessibility to services for underserved, marginalized populations.   

Partners for the program include Rutgers University, Integrity House, CarePlus NJ, and other substance use disorder treatment programs, strengthening the culture of change and continuous improvement. Bergen New Bridge hosts community partners including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous as well as medication-assisted treatment meetings to provide an all-encompassing approach to care for these patients.

Since starting the program, the Medical Center has expanded its licensures for additional outpatient programs, including adolescent services. Additionally, the team has introduced family nights to provide education about substance use disorders, treatment options, and recovery. In 2024, the program served 3,938 individuals with inpatient care and provided 17,613 units of intensive outpatient care to patients throughout New Jersey. On the office-based addiction treatment level of care, providers have supported and maintained 1,560 individuals in treatment for substance use disorder services. Rates of treatment refusal post-discharge have decreased from 21 percent in 2022 to 12 percent in 2024. The rate of leaving against medical advice also dropped, from 13.59 percent in 2022 to 8.6 percent in 2024.