CAMDEN, N.J., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Cooper University Hospital announced today that its new helipad is now open and functional, ready to receive critically ill and injured patients. Cooper, which operates the Southern New Jersey’s only Level I Trauma Center and a unique transfer system for critically ill patients at community hospitals, relocated the helipad from the top of the parking garage to the top of the Kelemen Pavilion, the main hospital building. The relocation is part of the first phase of a major renovation and expansion of Cooper University Hospital.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040526/DCW045 )
The helipad’s new location will provide patients with greater privacy and security during the transportation process. The Trauma Team will benefit from the more accessible location, shaving precious minutes off the time it takes to bring a patient from the helicopter to the trauma admitting area. Also, a new, technologically-advanced stabilization area, located adjacent to the helipad, includes a state-of-the-art sound system that will allow Trauma Team members waiting in the Admitting Area to remain in constant communication with Team members on the roof.
In addition to Trauma, Cooper’s helipad is used to receive patients from community hospitals in South Jersey who are in need of the highly-skilled critical care services found at Cooper through COTS (Cooper Transfer System). Since its inception in 2002, more than 1,100 critically ill patients have been transferred from community hospitals to Cooper’s intensive care, coronary care and stroke units for emergent care. In addition, Cooper is home to one of only two Pediatric Intensive Care Units in the entire state. Twenty-five community hospitals throughout South Jersey utilize COTS to transport critically ill patients to Cooper.
“The relocation of the helipad and the upgrade of the stabilization unit demonstrate the continuing commitment of Cooper University Hospital to provide the best trauma and critical care services in the entire Philadelphia Region,” states Charles E. Sessa, Jr., Chairman of Cooper’s Board of Trustees. “South Jersey residents can be confident that should they need the highly skilled lifesaving care provided at Cooper, they will be transported and stabilized in the most efficient and technologically-advanced way possible.”
The Cooper Health System and its flagship Cooper University Hospital is the premier provider of comprehensive health services and advanced medical technology in southern New Jersey. As a clinical and core teaching campus for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Camden, Cooper has become a national leader in medical education and research. For patients, that means the widest array of clinical services in southern New Jersey with a full continuum of primary and tertiary care, innovative diagnosis and treatment options with access to cutting edge research and protocols.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040526/DCW045AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comCooper University Hospital
CONTACT: Peggy Leone of Cooper University Hospital, +1-856-342-3332
