The basics:
Cooper Norcross Health launches a mobile addiction treatment program
Initiative is backed by a $500K state grant
Specialized teams will connect Camden residents with substance use treatment, recovery services
More network news: Upstream Access, founded by two Cooper surgeons, receives a $320K NIH award
Cooper Norcross Health has launched a new Mobile Integrated Health Program to expand access to addiction treatment and recovery services across Camden.
The program is supported by a $500,000 state grant, the Camden-based healthcare provider announced Oct. 21.
The initiative will deploy two specialized care teams to assist individuals with substance use disorders. The MIH teams will work with Cooper Norcross Health’s Emergency Medical Services and Division of Addiction Medicine.
The program will identify individuals needing care through 911 overdose responses, hospital discharges, community referrals and direct outreach.
Dr. Gerard Carroll, EMS medical director and division head of EMS and Disaster Medicine at Cooper Norcross Health, said the program will work to connect residents to care “beyond the emergency response.”
“Our paramedics are often among the first health care professionals to encounter people experiencing addiction or other complex health needs,” Carroll said. “By bringing clinical care and ongoing support into the community, we have an opportunity to engage people earlier, reduce barriers to treatment, and help connect them with the resources they need to move toward recovery.”
The initial program will operate for one year, with the potential for an extension based on outcomes and funding.
As part of the program, the MIH paramedic team can, when necessary:
Conduct on-site clinical assessments
Initiate medications such as buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder
Connect patients to Cooper Norcross providers through telehealth visits
Coordinate prescriptions, follow-up appointments and transportation to clinics
Offer services such as wound care, infectious disease treatment, overdose prevention education, naloxone distribution, and connections to housing, food and other resources
“This program allows us to meet patients where they are, both geographically and in their recovery journey,” added Dr. Rachel Haroz, head of Cooper’s Center for Healing. “Substance use disorder is a chronic condition that often requires flexible, ongoing engagement. By bringing care directly into the community, we can reduce barriers, prevent overdoses, and build meaningful connections that support long-term recovery.”
On the frontlines
Cooper Norcross Health – formerly Cooper University Health Care – has long been on the frontlines of the battle against addiction.
According to the health system, Cooper was the first EMS agency in the U.S. to place oral overdose treatment buprenorphine on its Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulances in 2019. Cooper EMS expanded the Bupe FIRST program in 2025 to University Hospital in Newark and St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson.
Then earlier this year, Cooper announced it was the first EMS system in the nation to carry and administer long-acting injectable buprenorphine in ambulances.
In July, Cooper’s Emergency Department was one of 17 divisions in New Jersey to receive the 2026 Lantern Awards. The annual honor recognizes EDs for their exceptional innovation and evidence-based practice.
Funding innovations
A Camden-based medical device company formed by two Cooper Norcross Health surgeons has received a $320,893 National Institutes of Health award.
Founded in April by Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter and Dr. Katherine McMackin, Upstream Access Inc. will use the funding to advance a novel vascular access technology that’s designed to improve procedures and expand treatment options for patients with peripheral artery disease.
PAD affects more than 12 million Americans, Cooper Norcross said in the Oct. 19 announcement.
The Cooper Norcross Innovation Center worked to advance the surgeons’ invention. The center helps identify, protect and commercialize innovations developed by Cooper clinicians and researchers, according to Cooper Norcross.
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