The vision for the center unfolded in the mid-1990s, when Richard Wohl, former President of Princeton House Behavioral Health, had a steady focus on the strategic growth of high-quality behavioral health programs—which went hand-in-hand with meeting the needs of the community. Working with the Chairman of Psychiatry, he laid the groundwork for the center by recruiting a psychiatrist specializing in eating disorders, who helped launch the program. With little space to expand at Princeton House, the Center for Eating Disorders Care began its work as a small, 12-bed inpatient unit at what was then The Medical Center at Princeton (now Princeton Medical Center) in 1996.
“We wanted to establish a level of quality unlike anywhere else in New Jersey,” says Wohl. “We expected seven to eight patients a day at first, and before long it was 10 to 12.”
As the hospital outgrew its space, it moved to a new home in Plainsboro in 2012. A needs assessment and strategic plan recommended that the center should be licensed for 22 inpatient beds, a prediction that now meets today’s patient needs. As part of a newly built medical center, the center was ideally equipped to treat the growing number of patients with medical complications of eating disorders and psychiatric comorbidities such as depression, OCD, and other mood disorders. At the same time, it was becoming a nationally known treatment center.
“We’ve seen patient acuity become higher over the years, but treatment interventions have expanded,“ says Melinda Parisi Cummings, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Graduate Programs in Counseling Psychology at Holy Family University. Dr. Parisi Cummings joined Princeton Center for Eating Disorders as a therapist in 1997, served as its Director for 15 years, and presently serves as a consultant.
“There’s a greater focus on family involvement in treatment, gender inclusivity, professional development, integrated care, and flexibility within the context of evidence-based practice," she adds. "The team helps to instill hope and holds hope for patients when they can’t yet see it for themselves.”
Princeton Center for Eating Disorders now serves patients of all genders ages 8 and up with a strong focus on evidence-based care and the expertise to treat a wide range of co-occurring medical conditions as part of its academic medical center setting. In 2020, the center received patient referrals from 40 states across the U.S.
“Our interdisciplinary team has an authentic passion for forward-thinking approaches to care that are also grounded in clinical research,” says Robbi Alexander, PhD, APN, PMHCNS-BC, present Director of Princeton Center for Eating Disorders. “We’re proud to offer this level of treatment for people across the country, and we’re planning to build even further on these initiatives as we look to the future.”