N.J. lawmakers vote to put Cooper in charge of Camden EMS

TRENTON - New Jersey lawmakers Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would give Cooper University Hospital control over emergency medical services in Camden.

It passed without debate on the floor of either house of the Legislature despite vociferous opposition from the current provider of paramedic services in Camden, Virtua Health System, which operates in every town in Burlington and Camden Counties.

The bill now heads to Gov. Christie's desk and seems likely to be signed into law, given that he has worked with Cooper's chairman, George E. Norcross III, on many initiatives in the city.

In addition to taking over paramedic services, the bill would enable Cooper to provide basic life services in Camden, which are currently provided by Newark-based University Hospital, which is state-owned. According to Cooper, University Hospital's Camden operation costs taxpayers $1 million annually.

The Legislature also passed a budget that includes $2.5 million for Cooper, which the hospital plans to use for start-up costs like replacing old ambulances, and $2.5 million for the City of Newark to establish its own EMS operation.

Christie, a Republican, is expected to act on the budget Friday.

Currently, 69 percent of Camden patients are transported to Cooper, 29 percent to Our Lady of Lourdes, and 2 percent to Virtua. Steven E. Ross, director of the Center for Trauma Services at Cooper, wrote in an open letter to legislators on Wednesday that this distribution of patients would not change under Cooper.

He said the legislation would allow for "integrated EMS care to residents, visitors, and workers of Camden on a timely basis and allow coordination of this care with the hospitals to which they are transported."

In a statement Thursday, Cooper said, "We are pleased that overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the Legislature agree that Cooper, like every other Level 1 Trauma center in the state, should be authorized to administer advanced life support services. Camden residents deserve the same quality of care others receive."

The legislation received mixed support from both Republicans and Democrats, passing the Senate on a 26-12 vote and the Assembly, 59-17, with three abstentions.

"Virtua left Camden years ago," Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said after the vote. "I firmly support EMS going to Level 1 trauma centers, especially when you have one in the city."

(Virtua closed an acute care center in Camden in 2000 but maintains a facility there that offers other services.)

Sweeney dismissed criticism from Virtua's CEO that the bill had been fast-tracked through the Legislature with Norcross' backing.

"You saw the vote on it. It was bipartisan, and it was not even close," Sweeney said. He added, "Did George Norcross have the Republicans vote for the bill too? Last time I checked, George is a Democrat."

Virtua chief executive Richard P. Miller said in a statement Thursday evening that the Legislature was "attempting to usurp the authority of the State Department of Health and its Commissioner within the Governor's administration."

"It is beyond our comprehension that the state legislature could introduce a bill creating such a major change in state policy and send it on to the governor in less than three weeks," he said.

Miller said he was confident Christie would veto the legislation and funding.

Lawmakers who voted against the bill cited similar reasons for opposing it. Virtua obtained the license to operate in Camden 38 years ago through a regulatory process known as the certificate of need program.

In this process, the Department of Health declares a need for a service, accepts applications for a vote before the state health planning board, and makes a recommendation to the department's commissioner, who renders the final decision.

State Sen. Diane Allen (R., Burlington), who voted against the bill, said she was "absolutely against going around the system in this kind of thing."

"I can't tell you I know for sure which way it should go. Maybe the case could be made," she said in an interview. But, Allen said, "I want to see us do it the right way."

Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R., Union) said he thought the Department of Health should be the body to determine this issue, not the Legislature.

But Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester) said Cooper's prominence in Camden gives it "a little more ownership" of the issue.

"Virtua is sort of at a distance," he said, adding that he thought Cooper probably should have taken over EMS in Camden years ago.