Critical care physicians care for seriously ill or injured patients while they are in the hospital. We work in cooperation with the patient's primary care physician and other medical or surgical specialists as needed.
When a patient has a serious illness or has suffered serious trauma, we direct the highest caliber of attention to their critical care needs. Our critical care specialists have the most sophisticated medical equipment at their disposal and, when patients must be transported here from area hospitals, an experienced team of critical care transport specialists provide ongoing monitoring during ground or air transport.
Along with patients from the immediate area, Cooper receives transfers of critically ill patients from more than 25 hospitals in South Jersey. By air or land, the Cooper Transfer System Center transports patients to Cooper for the highest quality of critical care.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Cooper's Intensive Care Unit was thoughtfully designed to optimize the patient's recovery and the family's comfort.
- 30 private rooms, including five isolation rooms - Private rooms give patients a quieter atmosphere so they can rest. This also gives doctors and nurses better ability to control infections. Isolation rooms help keep infections from spreading to and from patients.
- Large 330-square-foot rooms - Many patients in the ICU are attached to more than one piece of life-saving equipment. Having bigger rooms makes it easier for all the machines to fit around the patient.
- Family area within the room - Families can gather in the patient’s room to offer encouragement and support.
- Large family waiting area and consultation rooms - The room has Internet access, couches and chairs as well as other amenities to help families through their time spent at the hospital. Doctors can talk to families in the privacy of the consultation rooms.
- Satellite pharmacy - A satellite pharmacy on the same floor as the ICU helps get medications to patients quicker and more easily. Studies have shown us that giving a medication within the first hour of acute illness instead of waiting up to five hours can make a lifesaving difference. A patient in the ICU receives an average of 17 medications. Our pharmacy coordinates medications for our patients with the highest regard for patient safety.
- Windows to the outside - Each room has a large window to the outside to bring in natural light. The windows were an important part of the planning. As patients begin to heal, they are encouraged by the world outside of the walls of Cooper.
- Nurse work stations between every other room - Nurses have direct views into patient rooms.
- 360-degree access to the patient for nurses - The room’s design allows nurses to reach more easily behind the patient’s head for medical equipment.
- High-tech ceiling lighting - Physicians and nurses have the best lighting possible to facilitate medical procedures.
Nationally recognized physicians and nurses, and state-of-the-art methods for treating patients, are at the heart of Cooper critical care medicine. Cooper is the only hospital in South Jersey to offer a multidisciplinary team approach that includes dedicated critical care physicians – called intensivists – who provide round-the-clock, on-site care. Studies have shown that having an intensivist can increase the survival rate of the patients we care for.
Patient care is our top priority at Cooper. With these improvements for the ICU, we can continue to provide top-quality health care for the entire region.
Silver Level Center on the Path to Excellence in Life Support 
The Center for Critical Care Medicine at Cooper received national recognition as a Silver Level Center on the Path to Excellence in Life Support program by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). Our team (pictured above) was recognized for its outstanding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program, an advanced lifesaving system used for critically ill patients.
The Excellence in Life Support Award recognizes centers that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to evidence-based processes and quality measures, staff training and continuing education, patient satisfaction, and ongoing clinical care. The award also recognizes and honors extracorporeal life support (ECLS) programs that reach the highest level of performance, innovation, satisfaction, and quality.
Cooper’s Critical Care Team Receives Two National Honors for Efforts During Pandemic
Cooper University Health Care’s Critical Care team received two national awards from the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) for their outstanding efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The critical care team received The Family-Center Care Innovation Award – presented to a program that demonstrates novel, effective methods of providing care to critically ill and injured patients and their families – for the CritiCall Connections program. Through CritiCall Connections, senior medical students from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) served as liaisons between the critical care staff and patients’ families.
The 2022 ICU Heroes Award recognizes that patients and families are an integral part of intensive care unit (ICU) care. The award is given to an ICU patient and family and to the multi-professional team that delivered the care.
Partner Hospitals
Cooper University Health Care has partnered with area health systems to provide them with academic level critical care services. Our fellowship trained, board-certified intensivists staff the intensive care units at the following health systems and hospitals:
- Cape Regional Health System, Cape May Court House, NJ
- Inspira Medical Center, Elmer, NJ
- Inspira Medical Center, Mannington, NJ
- Inspira Medical Center, Mullica Hill, NJ
- Inspira Medical Center, Vineland, NJ