Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal and Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson on Tuesday will tour Rutgers Health UBHC National Call Center, which includes the state’s suicide prevention hotline and veterans helpline, and observe counselors assisting callers reaching out for help for themselves or loved ones.
“Help is available. People need to know they can pick up the phone and that immediate support is on the other end,” Commissioner Elnahal said. “Many people’s lives have been saved because of the quick response, compassion and professional training of the people at the NJ Hopeline.”
The commissioners will tour the call center at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12. Press are invited. A press conference will follow the tour.
Location: Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare (UBHC), 151 Centennial Avenue, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854.
The state suicide hotline is staffed with trained counselors from New Jersey who are familiar with available services. The suicide hotline — which received 26,619 total incoming calls in 2016, 35,614 incoming calls in 2017 and 18,193 total incoming calls to date in 2018 — was launched in 2013.
In addition to the suicide hotline, the commissioners will also talk to the call takers from other counseling services at UBHC’s hotline hub, which also houses the state’s Addictions Access Center, the Interim Management Entity, as well as the peer-based hotlines Vets4Warriors, NJ Vet2Vet, Cop2Cop and Mom2Mom.
“National events over the past months have included deaths and property loss from natural disasters, tragic school shootings and high-profile suicides — all of which can be deeply unsettling to individuals living with their own day-to-day challenges and realities. Rutgers Health UBHC’s crisis services, which includes the New Jersey Hopeline, stands ready to lend support to all and has recently experienced a significant increase in calls for support and information,” said Frank A. Ghinassi, PhD, President and CEO Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care. “You are not alone; please reach out. There is hope and there is help, call us 24/7 at 855-654-6735.”
Statistics released last week by the federal Centers for Disease Control showed a 25 percent increase nationwide from 1999 to 2016 in the number of people who die by suicide. That release followed the death by suicide of designer Kate Spade and immediately preceded that of chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain. The hotline experienced a significant increase in calls the morning after Bourdain’s death.
Although New Jersey statistics tracked similarly to the nation’s during much of the CDC’s study from 1999-2016, the state ranked significantly better last year and has had the second lowest suicide rate in the nation – second to the District of Columbia - from 2014 to 2016. For the first time since 2011, New Jersey’s suicide rate dropped 13 percent in 2016.
Commissioner Elnahal also noted that he is concerned about the 23-percent increase in the number of veterans and members from the military who died by suicide in New Jersey between 2010 and 2014.
“The high rate that remains for veterans is particularly alarming,” said Commissioner Elnahal, who was a top administrator at the Veterans Administration (VA) under former President Barack Obama. “Twenty veterans a day take their lives. We need to work with the VA, the Division of Military and Veterans Affairs and any other willing partner to improve these tragic rates.”
As a physician, Commissioner Elnahal said he is particularly concerned that the CDC report indicated that up to 45 percent of individuals who die by suicide have visited their primary care physician within a month of their death.
“Given these statistics, primary care has enormous potential to prevent suicides and connect people to needed specialty care — especially when they collaborate or formally partner with behavioral healthcare providers,” the commissioner said.
Another alarming statistic in New Jersey, according to Commissioner Elnahal, is that 26 percent of the people who died by suicide during a crisis situation had disclosed their intention to someone else.
“This is a reminder to take it very seriously when someone tells you they want to kill themselves,” Commissioner Elnahal said. “Get them help and follow up. Not all suicides are preventable, but many are.”
The Commissioner urged that anyone whose life or whose loved one’s life is in immediate danger call 911., where people can get referral to appropriate treatment.
Commissioner Elnahal also will host a suicide prevention summit on September 13 at the War Memorial in Trenton.
DOH launched website with suicide prevention resources at: http://nj.gov/health/integratedhealth/dmhas/home/suicide_prevention.shtml
Hotline numbers:
New Jersey Hopeline - 1-855-654-6735
Vet2Vet - 1-866-838-7654 (1-866-VETS-NJ-4)
Vets4Warriors Peer Support Line -1-855-838-8255
Cop2Cop – 1866-Cop-2COP
Mom2Mom - 1-877-914-6662 (1-877-914-MOM2
Interim Management Entity – Addictions Access Center 1-844-276-2777
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