NNews-Sep-2026

September 2026 5 continued on page 6 Dr. Ghinassi has been an activemember of the Substance Abuse andMental Health Services Administration’s planning committees; and expert advisory panels commissioned by the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services, National Committee for Quality Assurance andNational Quality Forum. He also chairs the National Association for Behavioral Health’s Quality Committee and Addiction Treatment Quality Workgroup; and serves on the Boards of the New Jersey Hospital Association and Greater Newark Health Care Coalition, as well as the AmericanHospital Association’s Committee on Behavioral Health. Dr. Ghinassi sees NJAMHAA as having two equally important missions: Serving as training sites for the next generation of healthcare providers and enabling them to deliver care that has been scientifically proven to be effective. As he comes from an academic, as well as clinical background, he also reinforced the need to “open doors to research to advance the science” and connected these goals to the field’s “obligation to provide evidence-based care and build the workforce pipeline”. Over the years, Dr. Ghinassi has observed and helped lead NJAMHAA in its critical roles of uniting, motivating and strengthening mental health and substance use service providers across the state. “The association convenes not only providers, but also state and national leaders, stimulates thought and challenges all of us to be better,” he said. “NJAMHAA’s “ NJAMHAA’s advocacy has enabled treatment to be provided tomillions of individuals over the years.The impact is clear onmultiple generations. ” Frank Ghinassi, PhD, ABPP NJAMHAA Board Chair; President and CEO of Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care; Senior Vice President of RWJBarnabas Health’s Behavioral Health and Addiction Service Line NJAMHAA Shares New Board Chair’s Vision and Welcomes NewMembers continued frompage 1 insights clarify important issues, and its advocacy allows providers to be stronger and thrive and in turn, give higher quality, comprehensive care to individuals and families in their communities.” Looking ahead, Dr. Ghinassi sees NJAMHAA helping providers with “identifying and curtailing regulatory burden that distracts us from care and impacts the quality of care.” He noted that H.R.1 is only one of the challenges NJAMHAA is helping providers manage. “We will see reduction in Medicaid eligibility and mounting administrative issues, and safety net programs will be affected. Though New Jersey has always been more robust in services, these challenges will impact us all. NJAMHAA plays an important role in providers’ ability to cope with this uncertainty.” Of course, funding is always essential —and always a challenge to secure and maintain. To help ensure resources are sufficient and ongoing to meet the constantly increasing need, NJAMHAA needs “to convince legislators and other people in government that we’re worth the investment equal to cancer, cardiology, etc. To do this, we must be very focused on demonstrating the value of our services throughmeasurable outcomes and how they are critical to the people of New Jersey,” Dr. Ghinassi stressed. Dr. Ghinassi also reinforced NJAMHAA’s “opportunity to be a leader in the integration of technology, which is growing by leaps and bounds.” This is especially evident in the quick expansion of artificial intelligence in providers’ work. “NJAMHAA has the opportunity to take the lead and ensure that technology doesn’t compromise quality, equity or privacy,” he said.