Patients at community health centers in Newark and central New Jersey can now get mental health counseling and a physical checkup in the same visit, at the same address, thanks to a regulatory overhaul that took effect in April 2026. The change collapses what used to be three separate licensing processes, overseen by two different state agencies, into a single state license for facilities that want to offer both behavioral and physical health treatment under one roof.
St. James Health, a community health center in Newark, and Zufall Health, which serves patients across central and northern New Jersey, are among the first to benefit. According to New Jersey Monitor, the state awarded two publicly funded contracts to the nonprofit health systems to expand integrated mental and physical healthcare, with the New Jersey Department of Human Services providing about $391,000 to St. James Health and nearly $275,000 to Zufall Health.
The New Jersey Department of Health has already issued Zufall Health one integrated-care license under the new rules, the outlet reported, and the organization expects a second application to be approved shortly. Twenty integrated-care license applications are currently under review statewide, suggesting the single-license model is catching on quickly among providers eager to streamline care.
Why One Office Visit Could Replace Several
The appeal of integrated care is straightforward: it offers behavioral health treatment and primary care at the same location, cutting down on the referrals and repeat visits to multiple healthcare systems that patients often face. Sarah Aleman said integrated care ensures access to the right care, the right team members, and the right amount of time within a coordinated system, per the same report. Stephen Cha put it bluntly, saying people too often end up navigating multiple systems just to get mental health, addiction, and physical health treatment.
Valerie Mielke framed the shift in broader terms, saying integrated care programs are designed to treat people as whole individuals rather than as a collection of separate health needs, the outlet noted. That philosophy underpins New Jersey's selection as one of eight states chosen for a pilot that lets community behavioral healthcare providers receive Medicaid reimbursement for integrated care and case management services, according to the report.
What's Already Running on the Ground
St. James Health operates three locations in Newark offering medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, and one of its clinics even includes a food bank, the station's report notes. Zufall Health runs more than half a dozen sites across northern and central New Jersey, maintains a mobile health unit, and had opened a school-based clinic in Franklin Township by May that serves children and the surrounding community.
Other providers built around the same integrated model include Care Plus, based in Bergen County, and Integrity House, based in Newark, both of which provide mental health, addiction, and primary care services under one umbrella, per the same account. New Jersey had 19 certified community behavioral health clinics as of 2024, a network the new licensing framework is designed to expand further.
Federal Dollars and a Longer Policy Arc
New Jersey receives tens of millions of dollars annually from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, according to the Department of Human Services as cited in the report. A separate funding program supports federally funded primary care clinics that offer screening, assessment, referral, and addiction treatment without requiring additional licensing, a setup that first launched in 2017.
The push toward integration has deeper roots in the state's Medicaid system. According to the Rutgers Bloustein School, New Jersey State Policy Lab, most behavioral health services for Medicaid patients are reimbursed through NJ FamilyCare, New Jersey's Medicaid program, and the state's broader Medicaid waiver was created to better integrate services, expand participation in home- and community-based programs, reduce administrative burden, and increase savings. The Policy Lab also notes that Integrated Case Management Services are meant to include assessment, service planning, service linkage, ongoing monitoring, clinical support, and advocacy, reinforcing the same coordinated-care goals now built into the new state license.
