The newly formed Domestic Violence Response Team at Cooper University Hospital is the only one of its kind in the state. The all-volunteer team, which was created in conjunction with the Camden County Women’s Center, makes Cooper the only hospital in New Jersey with a dedicated Domestic Violence Response Team.
“In fact, the state will be looking at us as a pilot program for other hospitals,” said NICU Social Worker Mary J. Evers, LCSW.
Based on the vision of the Social Work Department and Dianne Charsha, RN, MSN, NNP-BC, Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services, Chief Nursing Officer and Acting Chief Operating Officer, the volunteer program at Cooper was created to help domestic violence victims who are admitted to the emergency department after hours, when social workers are unavailable.
“In the past, these victims often were discharged without being seen by a social worker and, as a result, left without being offered the valuable resources that could help them,” Evers said.
Called volunteer advocates, Cooper’s response-team members underwent 10 weeks of domestic-abuse awareness training conducted and sponsored by the Camden County Women’s Center. Acting as representatives of the Camden County Women’s Center, the advocates will talk with and listen to victims, and provide them with resources for support and assistance, such as emergency shelter, personal counseling, and state and county programs for independent housing. The advocates will respond on a rotating,on-call basis, being notified when avictim arrives in the EmergencyDepartment after hours.
The volunteer advocates are all Cooper employees from across all service areas within the hospital. “Each is committedto serving and providing the victim with compassion and empathy, and each brings a passion and dedication to this project,” Evers said. “Ultimately, the goal is to help the victims break the cycle of violence in their lives.”
The members of Cooper’s all-volunteer Domestic Violence Response Team:
- Linda Teschko Clinical Practice Supervisor Department of Medicine
- Kathleen McAleer, MSS, LCSW Social Worker Inpatient Psychiatric
- Mary Evers, MSW, LCSW Social Worker Inpatient NICU
- Jessica Bennett Chaplain Pastoral Care
- Joseph Sweeney Chaplain Pastoral Care
- Robert Lumpe Chaplain Pastoral Care
- Dana Schoonmaker, MSW, LSW Social Worker Inpatient Maternity
- Krystal Hunter Statistician II Biostatistics/Research Institute
- Kathleen Campiglia Administrative Coordinator for Three Cooper Plaza Facilities
- Jacqueline Hills Patient Services Rep II Health Care Access Department
- Patricia Gall Surgical Scheduling Department of Orthopaedics
- Toni Mathis Social Worker Out-patient Cooper Pediatrics
- Jennifer Turner Nursing Education Patient Care Services
- Jack Leshnov, BA, CSW Social Worker Emergency Department
- Meriam Serrano Charge Entry Specialist Out-patient Cooper Pediatrics
- Vanessa Martinez Patient Service Rep II Out-patient Cooper Pediatrics