Dr. Catherine Cunningham has spent years watching children arrive in emergency
rooms and crisis units across New Jersey — the wrong place, she will tell you, for a
child in psychiatric distress.
That changes now.
Hackensack Meridian Health on Friday officially opened a $40 million, 43,000-square-
foot expansion at Carrier Clinic in Montgomery, adding 52 inpatient beds and lowering
the minimum age of treatment from 12 to 7.
Cunningham, the Chief Medical Officer at Carrier Clinic, said the facility is designed to
do something the existing system has struggled to do — reach children earlier, treat
them more completely and support the families going through the journey alongside
them.
“We are not just treating the crisis,” she said. “We are investing in a lifetime of well-
being for this patient population.”
There’s never been a greater need.
Cunningham pointed to a report released just one day before the opening by the New
Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute, which maps the landscape of childhood mental
health in the state.
“The reality is very striking,” she said. “We are in a crisis of access. This facility, this
new expansion answers the call in that report for a more coordinated, more equitable
and more efficient children’s mental health system.”
***
The numbers behind that crisis are startling:
- One-third of all emergency department visits at children’s hospitals nationwide
are for suicide attempts; - Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children ages 10-14;
- Thirty percent of girls in that age category said they have seriously considered
attempting suicide; - Carrier Clinic alone has seen a nearly 30% increase in admissions over the past
two years.
Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Bob Garrett has been sounding the alarm on those
numbers for years. Friday, he put it plainly.
“I never thought in those 40-plus years that we would ever think about 7-year-old
children attempting suicide,” he said. “I don’t know about all of you, but when I was 7
years old, that wasn’t even something that crossed people’s minds.”
The new facility is designed to meet that reality. The expansion features 52 inpatient
beds, multi-sensory treatment rooms, a gym, multiple group rooms, an academic
teaching center and a medical staff suite. The design draws from the natural
surroundings of the Carrier campus, built to maximize natural light.
***
Funding for the expansion came from two major sources.
The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation provided $10 million to create the Cohen
Community Resource & Education Center — a family resource and training hub
available to patients, families and the broader community. An additional $10 million in
state funds was secured through resolutions sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Zwicker
and Assemblyman Roy Freiman, approved under Gov. Phil Murphy.
Kenny Esser, EVP of Behavioral Health Transformation Services at HMH, made clear
Friday that the opening is more than a milestone — it’s a stepping stone.
“This is not the finish line,” he said. “Thought leadership and innovation is needed now
more than ever in the behavioral health space. We’re looking at issues of social media,
addiction medicine, breakthrough therapies. We’re just getting started.”
***
The elected officials who helped fund the project were direct about why it matters.
“When a child is struggling, parents shouldn’t have to wait weeks or travel hours to find
care,” Freiman said. “This expansion at Carrier Clinic means more young people will have access to treatment earlier, in a space designed specifically for healing and
recovery.”
Zwicker called it a critical investment.
“We are seeing unprecedented demand for youth mental health services, and this
facility ensures that more young people can access high-quality, compassionate care
when they need it most,” he said.
