Dr. Robert M. Greenberg Named Electroconvulsive Therapy Medical Director
West Orange, NJ – December 2, 2019– RWJBarnabas Health has appointed Robert M. Greenberg, M.D., as Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Medical Director, RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Network, effective immediately. Dr. Greenberg’s new role is part of a system-wide initiative to broaden its behavioral health services and end the stigma associated with ECT.
Dr. Greenberg will open an ECT service at Clara Maass Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, and evaluate the implementation of additional ECT services throughout the network.
Dr. Greenberg will also collaborate with Jessica L. Israel, M.D., RWJBarnabas Health Corporate Chair of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, as an expert in geriatric psychiatry at the Barnabas Health Ambulatory Care Center in Livingston. He will actively consult on complex cases with medical and neurological co-morbidity, such as movement disorders and cognitive disorders.
“We are dedicated to continuously enhance our Behavioral Health Network as a destination for those in need of our services. We welcome Dr. Greenberg who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to build a strong ECT practice,” said Jennifer Velez, RWJBH Executive Vice President of Community and Behavioral Health. “His expertise in ECT is a valuable addition to our Behavioral Health team, and he will help us to develop next-level patient care and treatments.”
During ECT, the brain receives a small electrical stimulation, resulting in a brief controlled seizure. Experts have determined that ECT is one of the most effective treatments for severe depression and certain other psychiatric and medical conditions when other treatments are not effective or when rapid improvement is essential.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Greenberg to RWJBarnabas Health,” said Gabriel Kaplan, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Network. “His expertise will bring an expanded range of options to our treatment programs, due to his long history with geriatric patients and knowledge of ECT.”
Dr. Israel stated, “Dr. Greenberg is a physician who looks at the whole picture surrounding a patient with complex medical issues. This is what Geriatric Medicine is all about. Caring for patients across disciplines in a meaningful way will help us to take better care of our patients as we work to make RWJBH an age-friendly health care system.”
Dr. Greenberg is Certified by Adult and Geriatric Boards of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a member of the RWJBarnabas Health medical group. In addition to his role at RWJBarnabas Health, he is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine. He has been active in the field of Geriatric Psychiatry practice, research, teaching, and training for over 35 years. He has developed and practiced in Geropsychiatry programs and ECT services at several large public and private hospitals. Most recently, he served as Director of the Memory Program and Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health, Brooklyn Campus, and the Psychiatry Consultation Service at NYU’s Augustana Center for Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care. He will continue in his role as Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School Medicine.
Dr. Greenberg is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (A.O.A) and did his medical internship and psychiatry residency at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He is widely published, serves as a journal reviewer in his field and also serves on numerous boards and committees of leading organizations.
For information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Greenberg, please call 973-322- 0220.
ABOUT THE RWJBARNABAS HEALTH BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER
The RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Center 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. At the RWJBarnabas Health Behavioral Health Center, the multidisciplinary staff includes experienced professionals in every facet of behavioral health care to allow the provision of truly customized and highly specialized treatment racks, as well as programs for the dually diagnosed.
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 recently announced a partnership with Rutgers University to create New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The 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 - and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.