# Mental Health Care in Old Bridge, NJ: A Local Guide > Old Bridge mental health help: the psychiatric crisis service in the Old Bridge Medical Center ER, therapy on Hospital Plaza, and IOP and PHP programs. Source page: https://psychmentalhealth.com/articles/mental-health-old-bridge-nj/ Published: 2026-10-10 · Last fact-checked: 2026-10-10 If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis in the U.S., call or text 988. > **Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger.** For thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call or text **988** at any hour. For adults, Middlesex County's 24-hour psychiatric emergency screening line, run by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, is **732-235-5700**. For a child or teen, call PerformCare at **1-877-652-7624**. More numbers are on our [crisis page](/crisis/). In Old Bridge, the hospital's psychiatric emergency service and its outpatient behavioral health office share one address: Hospital Plaza, off Route 18. At No. 1, Old Bridge Medical Center's emergency department has a dedicated area for emergency psychiatric services 24 hours a day, according to Hackensack Meridian Health. At No. 3, the same health system runs an outpatient behavioral health office that sees children from age 8, teens and adults. Two privately run programs in town that we confirmed on their own websites fill in the rest: a therapy clinic on Route 18 and a day-program provider on Route 516. The three outpatient options are not interchangeable. They see different ages and offer different levels of care, and for a family on NJ FamilyCare one fact narrows the list: only one of the three lists Medicaid plans. **Quick answer:** Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. For thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. Old Bridge Medical Center's emergency department, at 1 Hospital Plaza, has a dedicated area for emergency psychiatric services 24 hours a day, according to Hackensack Meridian Health. For an adult who may need a hospital evaluation, Middlesex County's 24-hour screening line, run by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, is 732-235-5700. For a child or teen, call PerformCare first at 1-877-652-7624. For regular care, Bay Behavioral Health at 3 Hospital Plaza, 732-360-4077, sees children from age 8, teens and adults. On NJ FamilyCare, Ellie Mental Health on Route 18, 732-344-4583, is the in-town option whose location page lists Medicaid plans. ## Where do you go in a psychiatric emergency in Old Bridge? Hackensack Meridian describes the psychiatric area in Old Bridge Medical Center's emergency department as "secure and safe," with a team of psychiatrists, nurses and clinical professionals who care for people in crisis. Its Carrier Behavioral Health service runs Emergency Crisis Stabilization inside two emergency departments: this one and Raritan Bay Medical Center's in Perth Amboy. According to Carrier's page, crisis counselors and psychiatric nurses evaluate adults and children having a psychiatric emergency and recommend treatment, 24 hours a day. That is the place to go when someone needs to be seen tonight and can get there safely. If they cannot, or if there is a weapon, an overdose or an attempt in progress, call 911 and let the responders decide where to take them. Carrier's page also lists inpatient psychiatric care, a dual-diagnosis program for mental health and substance use, and a geriatric inpatient program. Our [Perth Amboy guide](/articles/mental-health-perth-amboy-nj/) covers those programs and Raritan Bay's crisis line in detail. ## What if the worry is serious but no one is in danger yet? Some situations sit in between: an adult family member who is talking about not wanting to be alive but is not acting on it, or someone who has stopped eating and sleeping and will not go to a doctor. New Jersey handles these through designated psychiatric emergency screening services. The state's list, updated October 8, 2026, shows two for Middlesex County: Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care at 671 Hoes Lane in Piscataway (**732-235-5700**) and an Affiliated Emergency Service at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy (**732-324-5289**). Old Bridge Medical Center is not on that list. Rutgers describes its screening service as available to adults. For a child or teen, the first call is PerformCare at **1-877-652-7624**, New Jersey's children's behavioral health line. Its mobile response teams work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, may reach your home within one hour of notification, and can offer up to eight weeks of stabilization. If PerformCare decides your child should be evaluated for hospitalization, it refers you to a local screening center. The Hoes Lane service is explained in our [Piscataway guide](/articles/mental-health-piscataway-nj/). ## Weekly care on Hospital Plaza: Bay Behavioral Health Bay Behavioral Health Outpatient Services is Hackensack Meridian's outpatient office in Old Bridge. It is on the third floor of the Old Bridge Medical Arts Building, 3 Hospital Plaza, Suite 302, close to the hospital. Call **732-360-4077**. The office lists individual, group and intensive outpatient services for children age 8 and up, adolescents and adults. Its services include psychiatric evaluation, psychotherapy, family counseling and medication management. Conditions it names include depression, anxiety and panic, mood disorders, ADHD, PTSD and trauma, personality disorders, behavioral problems and anger management. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. The page does not list the insurance plans it takes, so ask when you call. ## Ellie and Innerspace: weekly therapy and day programs **Ellie Mental Health, Old Bridge-Birch St**, 1405 Route 18, Suite 106 South, **732-344-4583**. This is an outpatient therapy clinic. It offers individual, family and couples therapy, and Ellie says all of its locations offer telehealth as well as in-person sessions. Its location page lists hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, with Saturday appointments from 8 a.m. to noon. Its location page lists accepted payment that includes self-pay, a sliding scale, commercial plans and several Medicaid plans, among them Horizon New Jersey Health. Confirm your exact plan when you call. **Innerspace Counseling**, 2433 Route 516, **732-332-8270**. Innerspace runs day programs rather than weekly sessions. Its partial hospitalization program (PHP) runs five to six hours a day, five days a week, and its intensive outpatient program (IOP) runs two to three hours a day. It lists an after-school IOP for children 8 to 11, IOP and PHP for teens 12 to 18 (an 18-year-old must still be in high school), and IOP and PHP for adults. It offers sessions in person in Old Bridge and by telehealth anywhere in New Jersey. It starts with a free screening call. Innerspace says it is in network with most major commercial plans and does not currently accept Medicare or Medicaid plans. If you are on NJ FamilyCare, that rules it out for now. The two are different levels of care, so the choice between them is less about the provider than about how much support someone needs each week. Our guide to [levels of mental health care](/articles/levels-of-mental-health-care-explained/) explains how weekly therapy, IOP and PHP differ. ## What if you have NJ FamilyCare or no insurance? Of the in-town options above, only Ellie's location page lists Medicaid plans. Bay Behavioral Health does not say either way, so ask. Our [NJ FamilyCare mental health guide](/articles/nj-familycare-medicaid-mental-health-coverage/) explains what the program covers and how to find a provider in your plan. With no insurance at all, start with Ellie, whose location page lists self-pay and a sliding scale. Ask what a session would cost you. Beyond that, the in-town options get thin. Our [Perth Amboy guide](/articles/mental-health-perth-amboy-nj/) covers a federally qualified health center on Hobart Street that offers behavioral health with a sliding fee. The [Middlesex County resource page](/middlesex-county/) lists Rutgers' outpatient network and a psychology training clinic in Piscataway that offers low-cost care to some clients. For more ideas, read [therapy without insurance in NJ](/articles/therapy-without-insurance-low-cost-options-nj/). If driving is the barrier, [online therapy](/articles/online-therapy-telehealth-nj/) widens the list. ## Children and teens For a younger child, Bay Behavioral Health starts at age 8, and Innerspace's children's program covers ages 8 to 11. Ellie says it treats children and adults and lists play therapy, but its page gives no minimum age, so ask. For help sorting out which service fits a younger child, PerformCare's line at 1-877-652-7624 is also how New Jersey families reach the state's children's system of care. DMHAS lists it as a statewide hotline open around the clock. Your child's school counselor is often the quickest person to talk to, because they already see your child every day. Our guide to [child and teen mental health help in NJ](/articles/teen-child-mental-health-help-nj/) covers warning signs and how the school route works. ## A free line for help choosing NJMentalHealthCares, at **1-866-202-4357**, offers free, confidential emotional support and referrals to services. It is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. It is not a crisis line. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Outside those hours, or if things are getting worse, call or text 988. ## Start with Hospital Plaza If you or someone in your house needs regular care and you are not sure where to begin, call Bay Behavioral Health at 732-360-4077. It sees children from age 8, teens and adults, it offers both weekly therapy and an intensive outpatient level, and it sits near the hospital that handles psychiatric emergencies in town. Ask whether they take your insurance, how long the wait is for a first appointment, and whether the intake can start by phone. If Bay does not take your plan, the next call depends on the level of care, not on which provider sounds better. For weekly therapy, that is Ellie at 732-344-4583. For several hours of treatment a day, it is Innerspace at 732-332-8270. On NJ FamilyCare, only Ellie lists Medicaid plans, so confirm yours before you book. ## Sources - [Designated Screening Services in New Jersey (updated October 8, 2026)](https://nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/documents/pdf/MH_Screening_Centers.pdf) — NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services - [Old Bridge Medical Center](https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/locations/old-bridge-medical-center) — Hackensack Meridian Health - [Carrier Behavioral Health at Raritan Bay Medical Center](https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/locations/carrier-behavioral-health-at-raritan-bay-medical-center) — Hackensack Meridian Health - [Bay Behavioral Health Outpatient Services](https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/locations/bay-behavioral-health) — Hackensack Meridian Health - [Old Bridge-Birch St, Old Bridge, NJ Mental Health Clinic](https://elliementalhealth.com/locations/old-bridge-birch-st-nj/) — Ellie Mental Health - [Mental Health IOP & PHP in New Jersey](https://www.innerspacecounseling.com/) — Innerspace Counseling - [Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services (PESS)](https://ubhc.rutgers.edu/pess/) — Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care - [Emergency services](https://www.performcarenj.org/families/emergency-services.aspx) — PerformCare New Jersey - [Hotlines and Helplines](https://nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/help/hotlines/) — NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services --- General educational information, not medical advice. Fact-checked against the cited sources, not clinically reviewed. Ownership: PsychMentalHealth is published by an operator with a working relationship with Periscope Behavioral Health, which runs outpatient behavioral health programs in Middlesex and Camden counties, including Emerald Wellness in Kendall Park and South Jersey Recovery Program in Berlin. Those programs are not included in this site's county guides or articles, but a message sent through our contact form may be passed to one of them if you ask us to. Contact-form messages are passed to a Periscope program only when the sender ticks the opt-in box on the form.