West Orange, NJ, January 6, 2020— RWJBarnabas Health has appointed Frank A. Ghinassi, PhD, ABPP, the Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health and Addictions Service Line. In addition to his new position, Dr. Ghinassi will maintain a dual role and continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC). The assets and employees of the respective organizations will remain intact and independent, with UBHC maintaining its fiduciary and operational responsibilities to the State of NJ.
“The Behavioral Health and Addictions Service Line for RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers University will benefit from singular executive leadership, streamlining our strategic direction and operational excellence across both organizations,” said Barry H. Ostrowsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of RWJBarnabas Health. “Dr. Ghinassi’s extensive experience in evidence-based treatments for behavioral health and addiction services will help to create synergies throughout our health care system, strengthening our services and care pathways to the communities we serve.” Dr. Ghinassi will report to Mr. Ostrowsky.
Dr. Ghinassi’s leadership will further position RWJBarnabas Health’s Behavioral Health and Addictions Service Line as a premier, comprehensive behavioral health provider, serving as the preferred destination for patients, their families, and clinicians who seek high quality, fully integrated and interdisciplinary behavioral health care throughout New Jersey. As a leader in mental health care in the state of New Jersey, RWJBarnabas Health is focused on providing unparalleled expertise and stigma-free behavioral health services. Our high-quality, cost-effective behavioral health programs provide services that not only help individuals address the challenges they currently face, but also help them thrive and maintain good health throughout life.
As President and Chief Executive Officer for Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC), Dr. Ghinassi is responsible for a statewide system of academically based mental health and addiction services across New Jersey, managing a budget in excess of $300 million and approximately 2,100 staff and faculty. In this role, Dr. Ghinassi will continue to report to Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, Chancellor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Executive Vice President, Health Affairs, Rutgers University.
“Dr. Ghinassi is one of the best leaders in behavioral health in the nation. We have been delighted to have him as our leader for University Behavioral Health Care, a role he will continue to fill,” said Chancellor Strom. “This is yet another example of the synergies between our two organizations and our ability together to bring a new level of care to the people of New Jersey, to the nation, and to the world.”
Dr. Ghinassi is also Professor, Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Medical School, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Core Faculty, Rutgers Global Health Institute.
Prior to joining UBHC, Dr. Ghinassi was the Vice President for Quality, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance and Health Information Management at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Shadyside, where he was a member of the Executive Management Group. Dr. Ghinassi also served as an associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he was actively involved in the training of psychiatric residents and doctoral psychology interns.
As a licensed psychologist and board-certified executive coach, Dr. Ghinassi has held previous positions as Chief of Adult Psychiatric Services at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic/University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, as Clinical Director of the Mental Health Division of the May Institute in Boston, and as Director of Mood and Anxiety Partial Hospitalization and Residential Services at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Ghinassi earned a BA from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an MA from Duquesne University and a PhD from the University of Akron. His research interests include the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for mood disorders, quality of care and performance measurement metrics and models for data feedback in changing practices in behavioral health.
Dr. Ghinassi is a resident of Princeton, New Jersey.
ABOUT RWJBARNABAS HEALTH BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NETWORK
RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Network currently offers an extensive array of high-quality, clinically focused treatment programs. These programs include a 100-bed acute care psychiatric facility which provides inpatient and intensive outpatient programs for adults and older adults diagnosed with psychiatric and dual disorders. In addition, there are over 200 psychiatric beds in RWJBH acute care hospitals across the system The RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Network multidisciplinary staff includes experienced professionals in every facet of behavioral health care to allow the provision of truly customized and highly specialized treatment, as well as programs for the children and adults with eating disorders.
ABOUT RWJBARNABAS HEALTH
RWJBarnabas Health is the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, with a service area covering nine counties with five million people. The system includes eleven acute care hospitals; three acute care children’s hospitals and a leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital with a network of outpatient centers, a freestanding 100-bed behavioral health center, two trauma centers, a satellite emergency department, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, fitness and wellness centers, retail pharmacy services, a medical group, multi-site imaging centers and two accountable care organizations.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s largest private employer – with more than 33,000 employees, 9,000 physicians and 1,000 residents and interns – and routinely captures national awards for outstanding quality and safety. RWJBarnabas Health recently announced a partnership with Rutgers University to create New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. This collaboration will align RWJBarnabas Health with Rutgers’ education, research and clinical activities, including those at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey - the state's only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Contact: Ellen Greene
973-322-4018
Ellen.Greene@rwjbh.org