Cooper University Hospital has taken the positive step of officially becoming a smoke-free campus for all employees, patients and visitors to all of our inpatient, outpatient and business offices. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Each year more than 400,000 lives lost – 25 percent of all deaths—are related to tobacco use. In addition, exposure to secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths each year from lung cancer and heart disease in healthy non-smokers.

(CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY) Cooper University Hospital has appointed Jeffrey P. Carpenter, M.D., as Vice President for Perioperative Services. “Dr. Carpenter has superior clinical, academic and administrative skills,” says John P. Sheridan, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am confident that he will provide effective leadership that will contribute to the achievement of the overall strategic mission, productivity standards and expense management.”

(Camden, New Jersey) Cooper University Hospital and the Health Professionals & Allied Employees (HPAE), the union representing Cooper nurses, have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The contract is scheduled to be voted on by nurses Tuesday, May 26, 2009. "People turn to Cooper for their health care needs when they face the most serious injuries and medical conditions. And when they come to Cooper, very often, the first health professional they meet are the outstanding Cooper nurses," said George E. Norcross, III, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Cooper. "This tentative contract agreement proves our continued commitment to our nurses."

(Voorhees, New Jersey) On Thursday, May 7, 2009, the Cooper Cancer Institute celebrated the opening of the Dr. Diane Barton Complementary Medicine Program Healing Garden with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Approximately 100 donors attended the Healing Garden event, donating commemorative pavers, benches and trees. One of the focal points of the garden is a water sculpture donated by Michael and Brian Keenan, in memory of their mother Mrs. Barbara Keenan, a former patient of Dr. Generosa Grana, Director of the Cooper Cancer Institute.

(Camden, New Jersey) Cooper University Hospital has launched its new electronic health record system, EPIC, going “live” throughout the hospital on April 30, 2009. Cooper is the first hospital in South Jersey to adopt an electronic health record for all of its patients. This new, health-information system allows physicians to access all of their patients’ electronic medical records whether they are in the main hospital, the emergency department or one of Cooper’s four outpatient offices. It can be used for order entry, results review, prescription printing, discharge instructions, surgery scheduling and documentation, charging, nursing assessments and more.

(Camden, New Jersey) — Cooper University Hospital welcomes Francis R. Spitz, M.D., as Vice Chief of Surgery, Head of the Division of General Surgery and Deputy Director of the Cooper Cancer Institute. Dr. Spitz is a leading surgical oncologist with expertise in gastrointestinal cancers including esophageal, pancreatic, gastric, and hepatobiliary. He also specializes in primary and metastatic melanoma. “With an expanding cancer program, it is imperative that we have the best surgical options for our patients who are undergoing cancer treatments,” said Jeffrey P. Carpenter, M.D., Chief of Surgery at Cooper. “Dr. Spitz brings a new set of highly technical skills for some of the most complex surgeries for cancer patients.”

(Camden, New Jersey) - New Jersey Health Statistics reports that unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for residents age 1 through 44. Nearly 600 fatalities occurred on New Jersey roadways in 2008; and falls, pedestrian crossing and bike crashes are on the rise. This year, the New Jersey Trauma Center Council will participate in National Trauma Awareness Month by addressing Trauma Injury Prevention with a statewide poster campaign. The theme, “We Don’t Need Your Business!” will highlight seat belt use, pedestrian safety, fall prevention and the use of helmets.

When a sharp pain in his abdomen landed Craig Blackman in a local emergency department, he asked for answers. Test after test, doctors could not determine the root cause of his pain. Suggestions of stones in his bile duct, a tumor in the pancreas and pancreatitis, were all investigated. Finally, he underwent an ERCP, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, a typical diagnostic test for location of stones, but none were detected. Mr. Blackman, of Medford saw Dr. Adam Elfant, Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy at the Cooper Digestive Health Institute for a procedure called SpyGlass™. Cooper is the only center in the region utilizing a new state-of-the-art direct visualization system known as SpyGlass ™. SpyGlass™ uses a precise fiber-optic camera, not much bigger than a pencil point, that is inserted through a catheter (or tube) into the upper digestive tract. Threaded through the stomach and into the bile ducts, the physician can “steer” the camera in four directions allowing them to pinpoint the exact spot they want to examine.

Steel beams and construction vehicles will once again enter the Cooper Plaza neighborhood as development plans progress for a 25-unit condominium building on New and 7th streets. “The Cooper” will provide needed housing for existing Camden residents and for Cooper employees. It will also help create a safe, vibrant neighborhood for people to live and work.

In an effort to alleviate overcrowding in the Emergency Department (ED) and ensure that patients get the medical care they need in a comfortable environment, Cooper University Hospital has opened the new Clinical Decision Unit (CDU). This unit is for low risk patients who require further observation before a decision can be made to admit them to the hospital or send them home. Now, instead of spending the night in the ED, these patients get the observation they need in a hospital room on the CDU. The CDU consists of 18 beds on the tenth floor of the hospital equipped with telemetry capability. “The patients who are transferred there are patients first seen in the ED. These patients require observation and evaluation to determine whether they need to be admitted to the hospital or discharged after a period of observation,” said Gina Marone, R.N., M.S.N., Senior Director of Patient Care Services. “Examples of some of the most common ailments that require further observation are asthma, low risk chest pain or abdominal pain, mild congestive heart failure, pneumonia and dehydration.” The CDU staff is a multi-specialty team of physicians, nurses and case managers who are focused on quickly providing the necessary clinical tests to enable patients to progress efficiently with their care. The goal is to evaluate a patient and make a decision within 24 hours. “We safely expedite our patients’ care through their course of treatment in the hospital in order to get them back home or admit them if indicated,” Marone explained. “The CDU’s focus enables us to accomplish this while also being fiscally prudent with hospital resources, which is an added benefit."