Cooper in the Community
Cooper University Hospital is engaged in numerous outreach programs to Camden city youth, from health education programs to career shadowing. In the last year our successful programs included:
- Asthma education. Health professionals from Cooper’s Department of Pediatric Pulmonology provided asthma education for more than one hundred 3rd through 6th grade students at Camden City’s Lanning Square and Bonsall Elementary Schools during Asthma Awareness Month in May.
- Education in healthy living to reduce obesity. Cooper community health staff conducted a twelve-week “healthy living” class for 4th and 5th grade students at St. Anthony de Padua school in Camden, New Jersey. The program engaged parents to help change family habits and behavior. The course measured student body mass index (BMI) at the start and finish of the course; several students saw improvement.
- Summer reading program with Cooper Learning Center. Twenty-five kindergarten and first-grade students from the Lanning Square Elementary School received six weeks of summer reading tutoring through the Cooper Learning Center. Post-program testing showed that the students’ reading abilities improved 30% from students who did not receive summer tutorial. National Freight Industries/Sun Bank and Anne E. Koons of Prudential Fox and Roach realty sponsored the program.
- School nurse in-service training. Cooper staff provide in-service training to more than 40 Camden City public school nurses on various topics.
- Health Sciences Academy. From October through May, Cooper University Hospital partners with Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students to host a “Health Sciences Academy” for Camden City high school juniors and seniors. The program meets every other Wednesday, and has grown from three students in the pilot year (2005-2006) to fifteen students in the 2007-2008 school year. The program has a rigorous curriculum that includes anatomy, introduction to medical interventions, and more. Students conduct homework assignments throughout the year and present their final work through professional poster presentations.
- Brimm Medical Arts High School "Career Exposure." Cooper's community services department works with the Brimm Medical Arts magnet high school, a Camden City public school, to provide “career exposure” days. Cooper staff participated in four such days, with a focus on career preparedness and an introduction to health careers. Also, Cooper provides a $1,000 college scholarship annually to one outstanding college-bound Brimm student.
- Groundhog Career Shadowing Day. Each February, Cooper works with the Camden City Board of Education and their School-to-Career program to provide a one-day, intensive shadowing opportunity for select high school students.
- Summer Employment. Cooper's Summer Employment Program brings students from Camden City high schools to Cooper to work in paid internship positions, for 16 to 20 hours per In 2007, the program included 32 students.
Cooper is also committed to health education in the greater Camden, New Jersey community.
“Health Matters” TV show. Cooper continues to tape this interview-style show for Camden’s local public TV station, taping several shows annually, with each airing multiple times on CCS-TV (Channel 19.) Topics have included hypertension and the heart; breast cancer; general heart health; diabetes management and more. Each program showcases a Camden City resident coping with the condition, as well as a Cooper physician.
Health Awareness Ministry. For more than three years, Cooper’s “Health Awareness Ministry” has provided hundreds of screenings and health education events for congregants and community members at multiple Camden City churches. Cooper health professionals engage directly with pastors to create “health committees” at each church to continue the mission year-round. Each participating church hosts a screening and and/or health education event quarterly. Topics have included men’s prostate health, women’s health, cardiac health (including cholesterol and blood pressure), and more.
As an anchor institution in the Cooper Plaza/Lanning Square neighborhood in Camden, NJ, Cooper is taking an active role in community development.
Housing rehabilitation & home ownership. Cooper University Hospital has partnered with the St. Joseph's Carpenter Society and the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency to rehabilitate historic homes in the Cooper Plaza/Lanning Square neighborhood, and encourage Cooper employees to become first-time homebuyers.
In 2006/07, Cooper provided $20,000 to help the first four employees and families with down payments and closing costs on newly rehabbed homes.
In 2007, Cooper turned over ownership of seven historic row homes to St. Joseph’s for residential rehabilitation, with Cooper contributing $200,000 in housing value. The rehab of these homes, on historic Benson St. near the hospital, will be completed in late 2007 Several of the homes will be occupied by Cooper University Hospital employees and their families.
Community parks. With the help of generous grant funding from The Reinvestment Fund, and in partnership with the Cooper Lanning Civic Association, Cooper has led a project to design three new or expanded city parks in the Cooper Plaza neighborhood.
To date, the community has provided input and selected designs for the parks, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation and New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency have donated land. Camden County will construct the parks in 2008; and Cooper University Hospital will enter into a 20-year agreement to perform all maintenance.
Workforce development. Cooper University Hospital is the largest private employer in the City of Camden, employing 550 Camden City residents including more than 80 in the neighborhood immediately surrounding the hospital.
To maximize new hiring of Camden residents, Cooper partners with successful training and job readiness programs including Woodland Community Development Corporation and STRIVE.
To enhance opportunities for incumbent Camden employees, Cooper offers career development opportunities. In 2007, Cooper partnered with Camden County College to offer a new “Introduction to Health Careers” class geared toward encouraging non-clinical, service employees to advance to higher-paying medical professions.
Cooper is also the recipient of a 2007 New Jersey Department of Labor award to conduct incumbent worker training. Cooper provides college tuition reimbursement to all employees, including part-time. Cooper has been named one of the “Best Places to Work” in the state and region by NJ Biz magazine and Philadelphia Business Journal.
Neighborhood beautification. Cooper has joined a host of partners to beautify the neighborhood streetscape. Camden County is engaged in a project to improve lighting, install brick sidewalks and granite curbs, improve infrastructure and plant trees in the area of the hospital and the historic neighborhood. Further, the Cooper Lanning Civic Association and New Jersey Tree Foundation have taken a lead in planting trees in front of residences.