Health system encourages federal workers to take care of their health during shutdown.

Cooper University Health Care announced today it is offering furloughed federal government employees, and their immediate family members, access to the health system’s primary care providers within 24-hours of their call for an appointment during the federal government shutdown, now the longest in American history. Cooper has set up a dedicated phone number, 856.536.1300, for furloughed federal employees to call to make an appointment with a Cooper provider, or they can visit the health system’s website at www.cooperhealth.org Read more.

Cooper University Health Care recently entered into an agreement with the United States Army to provide advanced surgical trauma training to the U.S. Army’s elite Forward Resuscitation Surgical Team (FRST). Cooper is the first trauma center in the nation to begin providing this training.

“This is another first for Cooper, and we are honored and proud to train this elite Army medical team,” said George E. Read more.

Cooper is partnering with Our Lady of Lourdes, Virtua, Jefferson Health Systems, and our local county health departments to learn more about the health of our communities. We would like to invite you to participate by taking a survey. The purpose of this survey is to collect feedback on health issues and services from individuals who live in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties. Read more.

This afternoon, the Cooper Foundation spread holiday cheer by providing more than 150 holiday meals for families in the Cooper Plaza and Lanning Square neighborhoods to cook at home. In addition to the turkeys and all the fixings, the Foundation also distributed new books and toys to the children.

“Each year, employees from Cooper University Health Care make it a priority to give back to our neighbors in need,” stated Susan Bass Levin, President and CEO of the Cooper Foundation. Read more.

After several months of construction work, Cooper University Health Care unveiled its newly upgraded rooftop helipad and reopened for patient traffic on Friday, December 14, 2018. The helipad is one of the most heavily used in the region, as Cooper is a leading academic health center and serves as South Jersey’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. In addition to trauma patients, critically ill patients are also airlifted from other hospitals for a higher-level specialty care provided by Cooper’s physicians. Read more.

One of only two in New Jersey

Cooper University Health Care and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University recently received approval to establish an Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery (ENT) residency program from the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education). This highly specialized surgical training program is only the second of its kind in New Jersey. ENT residency training is in high demand and typically one of the most competitive residency programs nationally. Read more.

Cooper University Health Care Chairman George E. Norcross, III, issued a statement commending and thanking the leaders of health systems in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour for employees at their institutions.

“I want to thank our colleagues at the health systems that have joined Cooper in raising the minimum wage for their employees to a minimum of $15 an hour,” said Norcross. Read more.

For 13 Years, Divas for a Cure Has Been Raising Money to Benefit Cancer Patients

The Divas for a Cure, a non-profit group of female motorcycle enthusiasts, roared up to MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper on Saturday, December 1, 2018, on their cycles to present the proceeds of their annual fundraising efforts. Since the group’s inception in 2005, it has donated more than $141,000 to the cancer center.  Read more.

A medical team at Cooper University Health Care recently was the first in the eastern United States to treat a patient with central sleep apnea (CSA) with a new implantable device to stimulate breathing. Cooper is currently one of only 24 sites in the United States treating CSA with the remedē^® System, developed by medical technology company Respicardia, Inc. The remedē^® System received FDA-approval in 2017 and is the first commercially available device to treat CSA. Read more.

The Coriell Institute for Medical Research, Cooper University Health Care and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) are launching the Camden Opioid Research Initiative (CORI), a first-of-its-kind undertaking to investigate the genetic and biological factors that contribute to the development of opioid use disorder (also referred to as opioid dependence or addiction). Opioid overdoses continue to climb in New Jersey and nationally and the opioid addiction epidemic is one of the most urgent public health concerns of our time. Read more.