Optum is preparing to close dozens of medical practices across the Garden Statem. The subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group will close every one of its behavioral health offices, along with 19 pediatric locations. The closures will affect thousands of NJ patients and hundreds of employees.

According to Patch, notices filed with the state outlined 572 layoffs that will take place between November and February. The cuts are spread across numerous Optum divisions, including Optum Care, Optum Medical Care and Optum Management. 

The company has begun notifying patients that offices will close by the end of November. Behavioral health services will end entirely, while pediatric and specialty care locations in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties are also set to shut down.

Some communities will now be without local pediatric care, including parts of Hudson County where four Optum-run practices—two in Hoboken, one in Jersey City and one in Secaucus—will shutter.

The decision also eliminates pediatric pulmonology services in New Jersey, previously offered only at Optum’s Hudson Street site in Hoboken.

Optum said the restructuring follows an internal review of operations. The company cited a need to adjust its footprint and staffing levels to meet changing market demands. It will continue to offer pediatric, primary care, cardiology, rheumatology and urgent care services at select sites across New Jersey. 

The move comes after a period of rapid expansion by UnitedHealth and its subsidiaries, which have acquired numerous local medical groups in recent years. The contraction marks one of the largest private health care rollbacks in New Jersey this year and leaves many patients without immediate options for primary or pediatric care.

The closures will undoubtedly affect families, coming at the beginning of flu season, when access to pediatric care typically tightens. Local offices that remain open are expected to see heavier demand as displaced patients search for new providers and care. 

The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.