Congressman Andrews Announces $2.7 Million Grant for Health Care Jobs at Cooper

Press Release

Today, Congressman Andrews announced that Cooper Hospital was awarded a $2.7 million federal grant through the Affordable Care Act to improve care, reduce readmission rates and lower health care costs. This week the hospital is receiving its first installment of the funds, which will be used to create an outreach staff of 14 including nurses, social workers, community health workers a data analyst, and a project manager according to the hospital.

This funding will pay for the outreach staff to actively seek out the sickest and highest cost patients in the city and improve their care by visiting their homes within 24 hours of a hospitalization, and also going with those patients to their primary care doctor within one week of their hospitalization. An examination of data from Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers revealed that 20 percent of the patients accounted for 90 percent of health care costs. Over the course of the three-year grant, Cooper is expected to save an estimated $6 million by reducing patients' reliance on emergency services.

"This funding is one way the federal government is working to remedy sky-rocketing healthcare costs in our region," said Congressman Andrews. "Cooper's focus on wellness and preventative medicine is quickly becoming a model for the nation that will lower costs, improve the lives of patients, and free up the necessary resources to provide more efficient and better care for all."

As a ranking member of the Health Employment Labor and Pensions sub-committee, Congressman Andrews has been an outstanding voice in support of the Affordable Care Act that improves healthcare while making it more affordable for all Americans.

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