Cooper University Health Care presented the 2019 Cooper Military Employee of the Year Award to advanced practice nurse Ella Hawk, a member of the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery team. The celebratory event, honoring Cooper employees who are veterans and/or active military, was held on May 21, 2019.
The Cooper Military Employee of the Year Award was established in 2018 to formally recognize the outstanding contributions a Cooper staff member has made to the health system, the community, and the nation, as well as in support of Cooper’s mission: To serve. To heal. To educate.
Ella Hawk, Advanced Practice Nurse
“Today we are proud to honor our friend and colleague,” said Anthony J. Mazzarelli, MD, JD, MBE, Co-President of Cooper University Health Care. “Cooper has a tremendous commitment to our service men and women and our military veterans, and especially to members of our own Cooper family who have served or are currently serving in our nation’s armed forces.”
2019 Military Employee of the Year Ella Hawk.
Hawk has been an employee of Cooper since 2010, and has been a member of the United States Navy Reserve since 2013. She served at Walter Reed Medical Center as a critical care nurse during an acute nursing shortage in 2014. She also helped establish the Field Operational Hospital at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, and became the division officer of its medical Intensive Care Unit in 2017. Based on her knowledge and experience, she was hand-selected for annual training aboard the Medical Hospital Ship USNS Comfort. In July of this year, Hawk will be deployed to serve a tour of duty at the Navy Hospital in Okinawa, Japan.
“The purpose of this nomination is to identify and congratulate our military members who have exemplified commitment to patient care and the Cooper mission: To serve. To heal. To educate. I cannot think of another military employee at Cooper who best exemplifies these core values in and out of Cooper,” said Hawk’s colleague, David D. Shersher, MD, Co-Director of Cooper’s Aerodigestive Program and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.