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Cooper University Health Care‘s Center for Healing unveiled a mobile health services van to help those suffering from substance-use disorders in Camden. 

A team of physicians, nurses and EMS Services drivers will staff the mobile unit, according to an Oct. 23 announcement. Medical students from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, residents and fellows serve as volunteer support staff. 

The van includes: 

• A private exam room, bathroom, waiting and registration area; 
• Wound care and harm-reduction supplies; 
• Medications the team will administer on a limited basis. 

The Center for Healing will partner with community agencies throughout Camden. Working on a rotating basis, it will establish a regular schedule for the mobile health services.

The first agency partner is Seeds of Hope Ministries. The faith-based organization provides outreach services for incarcerated individuals, ex-offenders and the unhoused as well as those affected by substance-use disorders. 

Funded through opioid settlement 

The new unit was purchased through a $341,000 grant from Camden County as part of a nationwide opioid settlement. 

In March 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy and now-Attorney General Matt Platkin announced New Jersey would receive $641 million from settlements with New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson as well as the country’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. 

The settlement will fund state and local programs focused on treatment, prevention and other strategies to combat the opioid epidemic in the state, according to the governor’s office. 

In May 2023, Camden County officials announced receiving an initial round of $1.2 million as part of the settlement. Over the next 20 years, nearly $32 million will go toward Camden County to support community agencies, officials said. 

“We are incredibly thankful to Camden County for providing the funding that allows us to expand our services in the community and meet people where they are in their healthcare journey,” Dr. Rachel Haroz, head of Cooper University Health Care’s Center for Healing, said in a statement. 

Gratitude and congrats

“We are incredibly grateful to partner with the Center for Healing, the new mobile unit, and the dedicated addiction care team led by Dr. Rachel Haroz,” said Brenda Antinore, director of Seeds of Hope Ministries. “This partnership meets real needs and brings hope to those who need to know that change is possible—one day at a time, one life at a time.” 

“This project will be incredibly impactful for those who are struggling with substance use disorder and cannot easily access medical care,” said Camden County Commission Director Louis Cappelli Jr. “We are eliminating the barriers that commonly prevent people from seeking necessary, lifesaving medical care and we are bringing these services directly to the people who urgently need it.” 

“I commend Cooper University Health Care for taking this innovative step forward in expanding outreach to individuals struggling with substance use disorders,” said Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen at the unveiling. “The mobile unit will now be able to meet people where they are and provide critical wrap-around, mental health, and substance use disorder services throughout the Camden community.” 

“I have made it a priority to fight this disease by working to guarantee that proven treatments like methadone are more accessible to our neighbors who are struggling with substance use disorder. This van and the team of professionals from Cooper on it will save lives and that is certainly something to celebrate,” said U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J. 

On the road

Cooper joins several other health care networks hitting the road to meet residents and patients where they are. Other recent efforts include:

• AtlantiCare’s mobile grocery store, Atlantic City
• University Hospital’s $1.2 million mobile mammography unit, Newark
• Prevention Resource Network’s Harm Reduction Center, Monmouth and northern Ocean counties
• Virtua Health’s $1 million mobile health & cancer screening van, Camden and Burlington counties