AtlantiCare Breaks Ground for New Behavioral Health Center

AtlantiCare held a symbolic groundbreaking for its new Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Campus March 5 at a reception at the AtlantiCare LifeCenter on English Creek Avenue in Egg Harbor Township.

AtlantiCare Behavioral Health staff, physicians and Board members joined agency partners to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new campus, which will take place within the next month at 6010 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township. The group used a sandbox and children’s shovels to mark the importance of expanding behavioral health services for children and adolescents.

The new, 12,405-square-foot building will include ABH’s Family Care Network Foster Care; Child and Adolescent Acute Partial Hospitalization; and Social Service programs; as well as its Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Service. ABH, part of AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, will also add 2,155 feet to its current building on the site to relocate its Child and Adolescent Outpatient Services, which it currently provides in the AtlantiCare Health Park.

“Our outstanding staff will now have an exceptional facility to provide outpatient behavioral health services for children and adolescents in our community,” said Lori Herndon, president and CEO, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center and executive vice president, AtlantiCare.

“With this new space we will be able to offer our clients a much more therapeutic environment,” said Julie Drew, executive vice president, ABH. 

“By locating these services together, we are making it easier for families to use them,” said Noel Forrestel, chair, ABH Board. “Staff who are crossed trained for more than one program can more efficiently fill staffing needs in a one-campus setting. It will also be more convenient for representatives of Atlantic and Cape May counties and agencies and organizations who also work with some of our clients.”

In 2011 ABH served more than 1,900 children, adolescents and families. It expects to be able to provide services to up to 500 more each year in the new location.

The engineer for the project is Schaeffer Nassar Scheidigg Consulting Engineers, LLC, of Mays Landing; architect is Costanza Spector Clauser, of Moorestown; and builder is Masset Building Company, of Egg Harbor Township.

-News Release From AtlantiCare