You may see a small but mighty young man walking through Cooper’s halls on Wednesday, March 24. March of Dimes 2010 National Ambassador, seven-year-old Joshua Hoffman of Weston, Florida will visit Cooper’s level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which cares for more than 300 premature and sick babies per year. It is a unit that Joshua and his family know all too well—he was born prematurely, weighing only 1 pound, 11 ounces. He fought hard to survive, spending 14 weeks in a newborn intensive care unit, where he received treatment for serious breathing, heart and vision problems.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published an article about Governor Christie’s decision to give hospitals $867.9 million in aid, up $11.3 million, during the fiscal year that starts July 1. This would be accomplished by doubling a tax on hospital revenue in order to secure matching federal money.

Cooper University Hospital has appointed Kristin Lynne Brill, M.D., F.A.C.S., Director of The Janet Knowles Breast Cancer Program of the Cooper Cancer Institute. Dr. Brill will also serve as the Director of the Section of Breast Surgery within Cooper’s Department of Surgery.

The Executive Women of New Jersey ("EWNJ") will honor 37 women of professional distinction in New Jersey at its “Salute to the Policy Makers” 2010 Awards Dinner on May 13. Susan Bass Levin, President and CEO of The Cooper Foundation, will be one of the honorees. The awards dinner pays tribute to these women for their professional achievements and contributions to their organizations.

Sepsis, a bloodstream infection that causes a patient to become critically ill, claims more than 200,000 lives every year in the United States alone. In the most severe form of sepsis, a patient’s blood pressure suddenly drops to dangerously low levels and major organs in the body start to shut down, putting the patient at high risk of death. In treating these patients, time is of the essence.

Enhancing its collective strength in the area of oncology research in the state, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) has announced that Cooper University Hospital will be the fourth affiliate hospital within its Network to receive the prestigious Major Clinical Research Affiliate (MCRA) designation. CINJ is a Center of Excellence at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Rowan University and Cooper University Hospital have initiated a search for the founding dean of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. The dean will serve as the chief executive and intellectual leader of the medical school and is expected to have a dramatic impact on the future of health care delivery and education in South Jersey.

The final H1N1 vaccine clinic for Cooper patients and employees will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at Three Cooper Plaza, Suite 400, Camden, NJ. This will be your last opportunity to receive the vaccine at Cooper during the current flu season. Both the nasal vaccine (Flumist) and the injectable vaccine will be provided at these clinics subject to vaccine availability.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared a "fiscal state of emergency" in a speech to the Legislature this morning and laid out about $1.5 billion in spending cuts, including $12.6 million in hospital aid. The following statement was sent to the media regarding Cooper’s position on the budget cuts.

Today, Cooper University Hospital welcomed back a group of 18 doctors, nurses and technicians from a 12-day medical mission to Haiti. “We’re proud to welcome home the team of medical professionals from Cooper who spent nearly two weeks providing care to the thousands of people injured in the Haitian earthquake,” said John P. Sheridan, Jr., President and CEO of Cooper. “Congratulations on a job well done.”