Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health and Belle Mead, N.J.-based behavioral health provider Carrier Clinic signed a definitive agreement to merge, Hackensack Meridian announced Aug. 1.
Here are three things to know:
1. As part of the merger, the organizations will open an addiction treatment center in 2019, and provide seamless treatment and 24-hour access to care for adolescents and adults.
2. The merger will also enhance the organizations' research to improve behavioral healthcare statewide and provide additional opportunities for the network's psychiatry residency and fellowship programs.
3. Hackensack Meridian and Carrier Clinic signed a letter of intent to explore a merger in March. The deal is subject to regulatory review.
"We are writing a new chapter for the treatment of behavioral health and substance abuse disorders as we integrate Carrier's proven services into our network's robust behavioral health care,'' said Robert C. Garrett, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. "We must continue to truly integrate behavioral health into healthcare and expand treatment options as our state battles an opioid epidemic that has claimed too many lives and devastated so many families.''