Gov. Christie joined George Norcross in Camden to tout Cooper Hospital EMS improved response time in the city last year. The law that Christie signed allows Cooper Hospital Health Care to begin provide paramedic and ambulance service. Christie said that the legal battle that ensued with Virtua Health System following the action was a fight worth having.
Norcross, chairman of the board of trustees at Cooper, had called for greater accountability from other emergency services providers, a move that Republican Governor Christie endorses. Christie said that he hopes the legislature finds time to do that so that people from all parts of the state can enjoy the same type of services that the folks of Camden are having.
According to Cooper officials, they were able to respond to 90 percent of advanced life support calls within eight minutes in 2016. This was up from 70 percent of the calls responded within eight minutes by Virtua in 2015. Christie stated that people in politics dispute facts that are obvious for political reasons. This is unacceptable, according to the governor. According Peggy Leone, Virtua spokeswoman, the company disagrees with the legislative process that changed EMS system in Camden.
According to Leone, Virtua continues to provide EMS services in Burlington and Camden counties. Virtua sued over the law which allowed Cooper Hospital to begin providing ambulance and paramedic services in Camden last January. The law authorizes cooper to provide the services because of its status as Level 1 trauma center in the city.
A lower court agreed that the law was unconstitutional. However, an appellate panel had upheld the law in August. According to the panel, it is conceivable that a Level 1 trauma center with great resources, clinical advantages and university affiliation would be able to provide these services in a cost-efficient and more capable manner. Cooper said that they had added resources and was using them more efficiently as reported by The Inquirer Daily News.
In 2016, Cooper took over as the city EMS provider, a year after the passage of the controversial legislation which was signed by Gov. Chris Christie into law. Cooper was a beneficiary of the law and had received $2.5 million in state funds to replace old ambulances and for other startup costs associated with establishing an EMS program as reported by Philadelphia Business Journal.
