On Thursday, October 7, 2010, representatives from TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank ®, presented Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper with a grant from the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, for $100,000 to be used for Cooper’s Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic.
“Cooper is extremely grateful for this generous donation,” said Susan Bass-Levin, President and CEO of The Cooper Foundation. “With this grant, we can continue to offer invaluable services to many Camden families, giving their newborns hope for a great future.”
The Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic, called the Bright Beginnings Program, provides care to approximately 350 families annually-offering critical services and resources that are not available anywhere else in Camden. Approximately 65 percent of the community served by the program are uninsured or under insured.
Bright Beginnings helps parents adjust to the transition from neonatal nursery to caring for their child at home without the security of the nurses and doctors by their side. Cooper offers outpatient visits to assess neurodevelopment and educate parents on their child’s strengths and areas of opportunity for further development. Individualized care is provided through a multidisciplinary team of specialists assessing the infant’s health, nutrition, growth, temperament and development as well as the parents’ degree of comfort and ability to provide nurturing care especially around the issues of feeding, sleeping and crying.
(From Left to Right) Back Row: Michael H. Goodman, MD, Chief, Department of Pediatrics; Joseph P. Tredinnick, Regional Vice President of TD Bank; Michael C. Carbone, Regional President of TD Bank; Robert E. Curley, III, South Jersey Market President of TD Bank; Gary E. Stahl, MD, Head, Division of Neonatology. Front Row: Susan Bass-Levin, President and CEO of The Cooper Foundation; Sonia O. Imaizumi, MD, Associate Director of Neonatal Services
“Our physicians and nurse coordinators provide the crucial safety net to help transition each family,” said Michael H. Goodman, MD, Chief, Department of Pediatrics. “We are extremely fortunate to have such highly educated and skilled health care professionals who work together so the parents can come in for one comprehensive visit rather then multiple visits, while leaving with the confidence they need to care for their newborn.”
After each visit, Cooper provides families with a written summary of the infant’s special needs or medical conditions that can be given to the infants’ primary physicians to keep on record. This ongoing developmental assessment and intervention assures the child’s best growth and development through first grade.