Declaration of public policy.

1. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State that hospital and related health care services and behavioral health care services of the highest quality, of demonstrated need, efficiently provided and accessible at a reasonable cost are of vital concern to the public health. It is further declared that integrating physical and behavioral health care is the most effective way to improve the health of individuals and the population at large. In order to provide for the protection and promotion of the health of the inhabitants of the State, the Department of Health shall have the central responsibility for the development and administration of the State's policy with respect to health planning, hospital and related health care services and health care facility cost containment programs, behavioral health treatment and prevention programs, and all public and private institutions, whether State, county, municipal, incorporated or not incorporated, serving principally as residential health care facilities, nursing or maternity homes, or as facilities for the prevention, diagnosis, care, or treatment of human disease, mental illness, substance use disorder, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition, shall be subject to the provisions of this act. L.1971, c.136, s.1; amended 1978, c.83, s.1; 1979, c.496, s.19; 1991, c.187, s.27; 1992, c.160, s.21; 2017, c.294, s.1.