Medical Detox in North Jersey

How many detox programs does North Jersey have?

Eighteen. Our statewide list has 47 licensed detox programs, and 18 of them are in the eight North Jersey counties. Four are hospital units, five are outpatient (ambulatory) programs, and nine are freestanding inpatient programs.

The count is not spread evenly. Essex, Bergen and Passaic have four programs each and Union has three. Hudson, Morris and Warren have one each. Sussex has none. Every county has its own guide on this site, linked below.

Program counts are from our October 1, 2026 check of the state license directory; opioid treatment programs from our October 11, 2026 check; admissions from the state’s 2024 county reports. Names, phone numbers and payer details for every program are in our statewide list of licensed detox programs.

Where the hospital beds are

Four of the six hospital detox units on our statewide list are in North Jersey: CareWell Health Medical Center in East Orange, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, Saint Clare’s Behavioral Health in Boonton Township, and Summit Oaks Hospital in Summit. Central and South Jersey have one each. Bergen New Bridge, the county-owned hospital and one of the largest licensed hospitals in New Jersey, runs substance use treatment including medically supervised withdrawal, and its own site says it takes Medicaid.

Hospital units are built for medically risky withdrawal, alcohol and benzodiazepines especially. Not every unit sits behind an emergency department, and Summit Oaks is a psychiatric hospital, so if withdrawal is dangerous right now, go to the nearest ER, not a unit across the region. Our hospital detox guide explains what to ask when you call ahead.

A hospital unit or a freestanding program?

Families sometimes assume the quieter, private option is automatically better. It depends on what you need. A hospital unit is where you want to be if withdrawal could turn dangerous: a seizure history, heavy daily drinking, a benzodiazepine taper, or a serious medical condition. A freestanding program offers a calmer setting and, often, a smoother handoff into its own residential or outpatient track. Neither is wrong; they solve different problems.

Coverage narrows the choice faster than setting does. Of the 18 North Jersey programs, 11 take Medicaid according to their own website or FindTreatment.gov, six do not, and for one we could not confirm either way. Ask before you pack.

What the state’s 2024 numbers show

In 2024, people living in North Jersey had 25,455 treatment admissions. Heroin or another opioid was the primary drug in 9,929 (39.0%), and alcohol in 9,693 (38.1%). The split is not the same everywhere. In Essex County, heroin alone was the primary drug in 42% of residents’ admissions. In Morris and Sussex, alcohol was more than half.

The detox map in the data is narrower than the map of programs. North Jersey residents had 3,842 residential detox admissions in 2024. Programs in the region reported 2,273, and all but two of those were at programs in Essex (1,010) and Passaic (1,261). Programs in Bergen and Hudson reported one each, and Morris, Union, Sussex and Warren reported none.

Those zeros do not mean the other counties have no beds today. These are admissions, not people, and one person can have several. The report counts only what treatment providers report to the state’s NJSAMS system, a hospital unit may not report to it, and some programs have opened since; the Rutgers Center for Recovery & Wellbeing in Plainfield, for one, opened in February 2025. What the numbers do show is where people went: in 2024, all but two of the residential detox admissions at North Jersey programs were in Essex or Passaic County. When the nearest program has no bed, Essex and Passaic are where to call next.

Methadone and buprenorphine

Sixteen of New Jersey’s 42 opioid treatment programs are in North Jersey, and 14 of them take Medicaid according to their own site or FindTreatment.gov. Essex has four; Hudson, Passaic and Union three each; Morris, Sussex and Warren one each. Bergen, the most populous county in the state, has none on our list; the nearest programs on our list for Bergen residents are in Passaic, Hudson and Essex. Our methadone clinic guide lists them all.

For most NJ FamilyCare members, the state still pays opioid treatment programs directly, so ask the program, not the health plan, about methadone. Opioid treatment programs move into the NJ FamilyCare plans in January 2027.

Getting placed

If you have NJ FamilyCare (Medicaid) or no insurance, the state’s IME Addictions Access Center (1-844-276-2777, 24/7) screens callers and refers them to Medicaid and state-funded detox. ReachNJ, the state treatment line, answers 24/7 at 1-844-732-2465 for anyone. Periscope Behavioral Health ((888) 313-3583, our publisher’s admissions line) can also talk through options in New Jersey and Florida, including facilities Periscope operates. What a plan covers depends on the plan and the facility’s network status. With commercial insurance, you can call programs directly or start with our guide to vetting a facility.

Transit matters more than people expect. NJ Transit and PATH reach Newark and the Hudson County towns without a car, which keeps families involved and makes step-down outpatient realistic. Hudson County’s one licensed detox is in Kearny, and its own site says it does not take Medicaid, so a Jersey City resident with NJ FamilyCare is looking at programs in the neighboring counties.

If withdrawal is already dangerous, skip the phone calls. Federal law (EMTALA) requires hospitals with emergency departments to screen anyone who comes in and stabilize an emergency, whatever their insurance or ability to pay.

Paying for it

With NJ FamilyCare, the IME authorizes residential detox and rehab for most members. Outpatient and hospital detox already go through the member’s NJ FamilyCare plan; residential care moves into the plans in January 2027.

Under New Jersey law P.L.2017, c.28, fully insured New Jersey plans and the State Health Benefits and School Employees’ plans cannot require prior authorization for the first 180 days per plan year of in-network treatment your own physician, psychologist or psychiatrist finds medically necessary, or, during those same 180 days, for outpatient prescription drugs that treat substance use disorder, such as buprenorphine and naltrexone, when that clinician finds them medically necessary. Self-funded employer plans, Medicare and Medicaid are not covered by that rule, so verify with the plan. Our insurance guides cover each major plan.